Hidden Agenda
by hobytlah
Summary: Sequel to Hidden Angst. It seemed as if nothing could keep them apart...until Draco suddenly disappears. Years later, Draco returns to find that Hermione has rebuilt her life and gotten engaged.
1. Chapter 1

Hidden Agenda: Prologue

_Hermione was so cold. It hurt to even breathe, but she had to keep going; she had to keep moving. The green light was slowly but completely surrounding her. Her weary arms shook from the effort, yet still she clung to Grace's lifeless body, dragging her along. _

_"Just keep moving…Just keep moving."_

_Ahead of her, she could see a dragon. Its iridescent scales shimmered brilliantly in the green light. Without understanding why, Hermione stoically limped towards it. She simply knew that all she needed to do was get to the dragon and all would be fine once more._

_"Just keep moving."_

_Hermione's arms were now shaking uncontrollably as her leaden feet dragged herself and Grace's dead-weight along. Nonetheless, her focus never wavered from the dragon's piercing stare. The harsh glow continued to pulse around her until she was merely feet away from the dragon. Despite its ferocious appearance it made no attempt to attack Hermione. On the contrary, it did not even move; simply stared down its scaly, emerald snout at her as she struggled towards it. Her panting breath pooled in front of her in a steady mist. Slowly releasing her tightly clenched hand that had gripped around Grace's arm, Hermione moved forward to touch the dragon. Only then did the creature's silver gaze leave hers. It blinked and turned its head away before glancing back to reveal a blood red tear coursing down its cheek._

_Hermione opened her mouth to speak but her voice caught in her throat. Something was wrong. Her chest tightened with fear as she reached out once more to touch the beast. But before her fingers touched its emerald scales, Hermione felt the ground beneath her disappear. She lost her grip on Grace and the pulsing green light was replaced by a cold darkness. She fell silently, gasping for breath. She was so cold… so very cold._

Hermione awoke with a jolt, gasping for air. Her sleep induced brain, unprepared for her sudden intake of breath, provoked a series of heaving coughs which wracked her body. Drawing her knees up to her chest, Hermione reached out for the glass of water at her bedside table and gulped down quickly. As the coughing subsided and her breathing resumed a non-life-threatening pace, her trembling hand reached up to wipe away the streaming tears.

It had been a year since it had happened. Since Grace had- No. She refused to think about it. But dammit, even after a year she was still continually plagued by-

"Bad dream?" a husky voice murmured by her side.

Hermione turned to see a bleary-eyed Draco looking up at her. Pushing himself up to a seated position and running his left hand through his sleep rumpled hair; Draco reached over to grasp Hermione's trembling hand. Entwining their fingers, he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed the back of her hand.

"There's nothing you could have done, Hermione. You have to stop blaming yourself." Draco whispered as he gently kissed her bare shoulder.

Looking into his worried eyes, Hermione sighed, "I know."

"Let's go back to sleep."

Draco released Hermione's hand and wrapped his arm around her waist, sliding them both under the covers. Lying slightly atop him, Hermione's head came to rest on Draco's shoulder; her arm tightened around his torso for comfort. Listening to his steady deep breathing, combined with the warmth exuding from Draco's bare chest, Hermione felt herself being lulled into sleep. Closing her eyes, she reached over to clasp Draco's hand. Entwining their fingers- Hermione opened her eyes and lifted her head.

"What's that?"

Hermione's sudden movement caused Draco to look up at her in puzzlement.

"What's what?"

Sitting up, she gingerly grasped his hand closer towards her and ran her hands over his fingers. When she came into contact with a ring of cold steel on his index finger she twisted it lightly.

"This ring, is it new?"

Draco jerked his hand from her grasp to pull back the velvet curtain that surrounded the bed, allowing a feeble ray of moonlight to stream in. His brow drawing into a frown, Draco stared at Hermione gazing curiously at him. His throat constricted as he looked down at the steel ring glinting in the moonlight.

"You can see it?" Draco whispered hoarsely, as if struggling to come to terms with the idea.

"Of course I can see it. I just hadn't before. I didn't know you wore rings." She grinned at him.

Draco tried to smile back feebly, "I've worn this ring my entire life; the sign of a Malfoy," he whispered, twisting the ring on his finger. The intricate patterns etched on the ring seemed to burn, but he continued to twist it around. "At birth every Malfoy child is given one: _Received upon birth, removed only in death._"

"I can't believe I've never noticed it before." Hermione frowned, moving closer to Draco.

"I can't believe you can see it now. Only Malfoy's… and those worthy of the Malfoy name," Draco laughed dryly "are deigned the privilege of knowledge of this ring; nice little family secret, hey? For centuries the Malfoy's used this ring to find prospective respectable partners." He finished off bitterly.

Tearing his gaze away from the ring, Draco looked up towards Hermione who was gnawing anxiously at her bottom lip. He reached around her to wrap his arm around her waist once more and drew her close.

"But I don't need a stupid ring to tell me that you are the strongest," he placed a kiss on her forehead, "most beautiful," a kiss on the tip of her nose, "most intelligent," his lips hovered just above hers, "most obstinate woman I have ever met. And I don't need a stupid ring to tell me that I love you. That I could never love anyone else the way I love you."

The emotions that swelled up in Hermione, threatening to burst out faltered as she caught a glimpse of Draco in the moonlight. He looked tired. Not just from lack of sleep but completely and utterly drained. She ran a light touch across his tightly knit brow, causing him to stare up at her.

"What's wrong, Draco?"

A play of emotion swept through his gaze as he stared at her: anxiety, sadness, anger, hurt, love. Her heart clenched at the thought of Draco's hidden pain.

"It's just… I just have something I have to do. That's all."

Hermione continued to watch him but decided not to push the matter. Draco reached up to cup her cheek before grasping her by the chin and pulling her closer towards him. Rubbing his nose against hers, he smiled at her.

"You've got to stop keeping me up all night like this. You're wearing me out."

He lied back down, dragging her with him. Tucking the top of Hermione's head under his chin, Draco gently stroked the smooth skin of her arm until he heard her deep breathing. Unable to sleep himself, Draco stared up at the canopy of the bed. He knew what he had to do; knew he had to leave, but he simply couldn't do it… not yet. He needed this. He needed her.

Closing his eyes, Draco tightened his hold on Hermione and whispered the mournful words he had heard her sing once "Save tonight and fight the break of dawn. Come tomorrow… I will be gone."

Hermione awoke, reaching out for Draco. When she encountered nothing, she sat up with a start. She was late! She had to be late; Draco never woke up before her. Technically, Draco being a Slytherin and male meant he was not allowed in Hermione's room. However, ever since Grace had gone, Hermione had dreaded sleeping alone in her room. Thus (with little convincing needed), Draco agreed to stay with Hermione, and it was her job each morning to drag him out of bed in order for him to sneak out again, unnoticed.

Pulling back the velvet curtain that surrounded her bed, Hermione snatched up the alarm clock, which sat on her bedside table, to see it was only 5:30 am. Shaking her head she returned the clock to its place and fell back against her pillows. He was probably in the bathroom. Probably fallen asleep on the toilet, lazy bugger. Hermione smiled as she snuggled back into bed, but a niggling sensation worried at her, causing her to sit up once more. With the curtains open behind her the sunlight that shone through made the steel ring on Draco's pillow glint. Her mind went blank as she reached over to pick it up. As she touched the cold metal, a million thoughts rushed through her mind before Draco's words returned to her.

"Received upon birth, removed only in death." Hermione whispered in shock.

Grabbing the ring off the pillow, Hermione jumped out of bed and ran out of her room. Heedless of the early hour or the fact she was dressed only in her nightgown, she ran through the common room.

"Draco! Draco, where are you? This isn't funny, Draco!" she screamed as she clambered past the fat lady.

Her heart seemed to pound in her throat. She was scared, terrified, she had to find him.

"Draco! Draco, where are you?" she screamed, running madly down the hallways blinded by her tears. "It's not a joke anymore, Draco. This isn't funny, Dra-

Hermione ran bodily into someone. She stopped, her emotions finally overwhelming her as a pair of arms wrapped around her. She stood there shaking uncontrollably.

"Miss Granger, you must calm yourself."

Hearing the gentle voice, Hermione looked up to see Professor Dumbledore, comforting her.

"Professor, Draco-"

Dumbledore looked away from her.

"Professor, I need to find him. I need to-"

"He's gone, Hermione. Draco's gone."

Hermione tugged herself out of his arms and shook her head at him, but the ring in her hand was almost burning as she held it tightly.

"No!"

_Received upon birth, removed only in death_. Draco's gone…


	2. Wedding Preparations and Penguin Parfait

Wedding Preparations and Penguin Parfait.

10 years later…

This was the first day off for Hermione since her promotion two years ago and she had fully intended on making the most of it. Yet instead of being snuggled up in bed with a good book; or in a hot bath with a good book; or even on the couch with a cup of tea and a good book, Hermione was standing on a low stool in the fitting room of Madame Malkin's shop. Two far-sighted witches circled around her looking for excuses to stab her with yet another of their multitude of pins. Hermione had closed her eyes after the last three pins had been stabbed into her side and dreamt longingly for the book that was lying on her bedside table. Thus she did not realize Mrs Weasley's presence in the room until she heard a gasp.

'Oh my!' Mrs Weasley sobbed as she looked up at Hermione. 'Oh my Aunt Mildred's goats, you look beautiful. You look perfect. Oh I'm so proud. It's perfect. Just perfect.'

Mrs Weasley reached down to straighten the hem of Hermione's dress robe but was soon so overcome by emotion that she clapped a hand over her mouth and ran out of the room once more. Hermione greatly wanted to sigh, but the robe she was being fitted for didn't allow for that. In fact, Hermione feared that if she heaved to great a breath, this torture device of a dress would send pins flying across the room stabbing the little old witches. She definitely didn't need to give them further excuse to torment her. Resigned, Hermione sighed inwardly and closed her eyes once more.

'You must have nerves of steel to endure this… and that.' Ginny Weasley laughed, nodding at the door of her mother's hasty exit. Hermione opened one eye to look at her red-headed friend, who had just strolled into the room. Dressed casually in muggle jeans and a plain white t-shirt, Ginny was openly laughing at her friend's misfortune. Scowling at Ginny who was all but rolling on the floor with laughter, Hermione finally lost the temper she had been struggling to keep in check all day.

'Well I'm glad you're happy Ginny. And you should be. You're not the one standing here looking like a penguin. A penguin dipped in parfait. A penguin dipped in parfait, with its own nest for hair.' Hermione snapped hysterically.

The two hobbling witches finally halted their poking and tightening, to look up at Hermione with beady eyes. With simultaneous disgruntled hmphs, they swept out of the room.

'Oh,' Hermione muttered, feeling a little stunned, 'if I had known that's all it took I would have done that ages ago.'

'Come on Hermione, let's get you out of that awful dress, go home and have a nice cup of tea.' Ginny said with laughter still in her voice.

She reached a hand up to help Hermione off the stool. With an awkward flop swing of her leg, Hermione stepped down and then stopped. Ginny turned back with a questioning frown as her friend swiveled around and most awkwardly got back on the stool.

'Hold on, just let me try that again.'

And with another ungainly flop swing of her leg, she was off the stool once more.

'Dammit! Not even a rip! I swear they've put an iron-clad binding spell on this. I don't understand why all the pins are necessary.' Hermione winced in irritation.

Ginny simply chuckled and shook her head at Hermione.

'Hey don't laugh at me. This is all your fault. I don't understand why your mum is making such a big deal about this. You'd think I was the one getting married instead of you.'

Ginny held her hands up in a show of mock innocence. 'You know how it is: only girl in the family getting married. Mum just wants everything to be perfect.'

Despite the fact she was strapped in a completely heinous gown and despite the complete waste of her only day off, it was hard for Hermione to be truly angry at Ginny. With her flaming-red hair tied into two short ponytails, her head thrown back with laughter, Ginny looked carefree and genuinely happy. Hermione simply couldn't believe that Harry and Ginny were finally getting married.

'Yeah, it'll be perfect… If you're a penguin who likes parfait.

Back at their flat, Hermione was gratefully back in her comfy muggle clothes and sprawled on the couch. Ginny was curled up in the corner of the couch, smiling wistfully at Hermione.

'Who could have imagined we would be engaged at the same time? Me and Harry; you and Greg.' Ginny said, 'Imagine if we were getting married at the same time.'

'Oh no Ginny, Greg and I are hoping for a long engagement; a very long engagement.' Hermione smiled.

She couldn't help but smile whenever she thought of him. Greg Johnson was a muggle: born and bred. He was a scientist and like most scientists believed that absolutely everything could be explained in terms of chemistry, physics and biology.

'Listen Hermione, I meant what I said before. I really want you AND Greg at my wedding.' Ginny said, 'I want the both of you to be there for my special moment, just like Harry and I are going to be there for yours.'

'Ginny, you know that's not a good idea.' Hermione shook her head at her friend.

'I can't believe you still haven't told him yet.'

Hermione looked away, guiltily. 'Well it's not exactly the easiest bit of news to impart, is it? It's not like, say if you're cooking: "Hope you're hungry. Oh and by the way, I'm a witch." Or doing the laundry: "Got any socks to do? Oh yeah and I'm head of government for a secret society of witches and wizards."'

Ginny's body shook with mirth as she gave her friend a light pat on the shoulder.

'Oh come on Hermione, I know you don't cook or do the laundry.'

'Precisely,' Hermione scowled at Ginny, who was enjoying her dilemma far too much, 'I _will_ tell him. I'm just waiting for the opportune moment.'

'Yeah and when will that be?'

'Oh I don't know, maybe when our first child gets their Hogwarts letter.'

Ginny laughed so hard she fell off the couch. Rolling her eyes, Hermione pushed off the couch and headed for the kitchen. But Ginny grabbed at her ankle, halting her progress. With a great sigh, Hermione turned back to her friend.

'I mean it Hermione. If not the wedding then, Greg is coming to the reception at the very least.' Ginny said, still lying on the floor, 'I promise I'll talk to my family. No funny business.' Then, at the thought of her older twin brothers, 'Well maybe some funny business; but definitely no magicky business.'

Understanding the lengths Ginny was willing to go to for Greg to be at her wedding; Hermione finally gave in. 'Fine, fine, Greg is coming… to the reception. I don't think I could get away with a magical wedding without him noticing… But I'm only agreeing because I know if I refuse, you won't hesitate to hex me. And I know you'll have no qualms about having a bat for a maid-of-honor.'

Ginny gave an excited squeal and jumped up to give her maid-of-honor-to-be a fierce hug. When she pulled away, tears were shimmering in her eyes.

'Merlin's toes! I can't believe I'm getting married. To Harry Potter, of all wizards.'

Hermione grinned and gave her friend a light shove on the shoulder.

'Yeah and shouldn't you be out enjoying your last days of freedom anyway?'

'I am enjoying my last days of so-called freedom. And now that you mention it, I'm glad you didn't organize me a Hen's Night. I mean the traditional consumption of a live hen's brain just turns my stomach; poor little hens.'

Hermione simply looked at Ginny curiously, wondering why she had never read about that before.

'Oh come on, Hermione. It was a joke.' Ginny laughed, 'But seriously, I am thoroughly enjoying myself just sitting here relaxing with you.'

'Oh no!' Hermione groaned, 'You really wanted a Hen's Night, didn't you? I can tell! And as your maid-of-honor I have failed you. Oh I'm so sorry, Ginny. I just didn't think about it.'

'Hermione, it's fine. I— .'

The doorbell rang, and Hermione, looking very guilty, jumped up to get it.

'I'll get it Gin. Probably just some saleswitch. I'll be right back and you can show me what a good friend you are by waving off my idiocy.'

Ginny just sighed happily as she listened to the door opening, followed by Hermione's short and succinct conversational tones. Hermione was always very good at dealing with these saleswitches.

'Hey, Ginny! Could you come over here and give me a hand.'

Ginny frowned in puzzlement. Surely Hermione hadn't actually bought something. Feeling very curious, Ginny made her way to the front door, only to see that the door had seemingly been replaced by hundreds of multi-colored balloons. Before she could say a word, Hermione grabbed the balloon strings and shoved them in her hands. But Ginny was in such a state of shock that the strings simply slipped through her fingers.

'SURPRISE!' a chorus of female voices yelled.

As the balloons floated up to the ceiling, Ginny saw all her friends filing into the front hallway.

'Hermione!' Ginny grinned.

Hermione simply grinned back and shooed the gaggle of giggles into the living room. She turned back to close the door but stopped when she saw a single flower on the front step. She was amazed it hadn't been crushed by the horde. Hermione leant down to pick up the white Asiatic lily, thinking it was a rather romantic gesture on Harry's behalf; then noticed the piece of parchment beneath it. Her eyes narrowed at the words:

_Back for good…D_

Feeling a shiver down her spine, Hermione straightened and looked around. The street was bustling as usual. Young and polished saleswitches were knocking on doors; little old wizards were taking their pet tortoises for walks. Then there: not even two houses away, with his whitish blond hair being swept up by the wind he stood. Hermione felt her heart pounding in her chest and her hand clenched over the doorknob. A part of her wanted to run back into the flat and slam the door shut. The other part of her wanted to run over there – just to see.

He didn't move, simply stood there as if frozen. Hermione's suddenly sweaty hand slipped off the door handle and she took a step forward.

'Hermione, what are you doing out there? Get in here and join the party.' Ginny's voice rang from inside the flat.

Startled, Hermione turned her head towards the doorway. When she turned back towards the street, he was gone. She was hardly surprised, yet still she felt her stomach sink. Frowning, she steeled herself and shook her head.

'No,' she whispered, scrunching up the parchment and stuffing it into her pockets, 'No.'

Hermione stepped into the flat and quickly shoved the flower she held into the vase of Ginny's many flowers.

'Oh my, is that a willy shaped balloon?' an over-excited voice squealed from the living room.

Shutting the front door, Hermione dropped her head against the back of it. Pressing the entire flower episode to the back of her mind, she desperately longed for a quiet moment and the book by her bedside table.


	3. Eternal Flame

All these ruddy marvelous characters belong to the splendiferous J.K. Rowling (except Greg, but I s'pose you can't really say he's ruddy marvelous)

P.S. Never Fear, there are no HBP spoilers in here! (But I must say it's pretty irresponsible of you to be reading fanfics if you haven't finished the 6th book) I just want to say that I wrote this chapter before HBP came out. However, because of certain occurrences in said book I have been having extreme doubts as to whether I wanted to continue with this story. Since I had already written this chapter I thought I might as well put it up but you have been forewarned. ;0)

**Eternal Flame**

'Let's get this party started, shall we?' George grinned from the front of the borrowed ministry car. His twin brother, Fred was seated next to him and was wearing an equally wicked expression on his own face.

'Yeah we should get there earlier and see if we can catch Harry trying to sneak away.'

Hermione shook her head at Fred and he winked at her before turning to face the front once more. She could feel the beginnings of a migraine pounding at her temple. The glorious day of Ginny's wedding had not dawned well. Hermione, who greatly appreciated a sleep-in or at the very least the lee-way to wake up by herself, had been jolted awake by the sounds of Ginny retching in the bathroom. With the concern of an old friend, Hermione jumped out of bed, threw on her robe and padded into the bathroom to investigate.

'You alright Ginny?' Hermione asked as she leaned against the door frame of the open bathroom door. Ginny had her head leaning over the toilet bowl and let out another spectacular heave, causing Hermione's stomach to turn. After a moment of silence, Ginny sat back against the bath tub and placed a hand on her stomach. Pushing off the door jamb, Hermione handed Ginny a roll of toilet paper and sat beside her, stroking her hair.

'What's wrong?' Hermione whispered.

Ginny looked away, avoiding Hermione's worried gaze.

'Um… nothing. I probably just ate something that didn't agree with me.' Ginny let her words drift, as if what she truly wanted to say was stuck in her throat. Hermione didn't want to push Ginny, so she let the matter rest. An awkward silence fell between then as she rubbed Ginny's back with comforting strokes.

Hermione was just about to suggest they get off the cold floor of the bathroom and try to get some more sleep, when Ginny turned to her. Her eyes were filled with tears and before Hermione could even say a word, Ginny burst out into a full blown wail. Hermione bit her lip and put her arm around Ginny's shoulders.

'Oh Ginny, don't. I know you're nervous about today, but it's going to be fine. In fact, it's going to be better than fine—.'

'It's not that and you know it's not, Hermione,' Ginny wailed, 'I'm getting married to Harry. Harry Potter! I mean, why me? He could have any girl in the wizarding world. Why me?'

'Oh come on Ginny. You and I have both known him for long enough to know that Harry isn't really that great a catch. I mean the boy is completely obsessed with quidditch, has a worrying preoccupation with catching bad guys and couldn't cook a decent meal if the Quidditch World Cup depended on him. Let's face it, he's not exactly Witch Weekly's bachelor of the year. And I'm starting to seriously doubt your intelligence for thinking so.' Hermione paused to smile down at Ginny, 'Your brother, Percy on the other hand… He's quite the swinging bachelor now isn't he?'

Ginny let out a guffaw but the tears still shone in her eyes.

'But seriously, besides all his other faults, Harry seems to genuinely love you. And as one of his best friends, I feel obliged to tell you that if you try to back out now, I may have to pull out all your hair.'

The tears were now free-flowing down Ginny's cheeks, so Hermione pulled her in closer for a hug.

'I'm just so scared, Hermione.' Ginny's voice quavered, 'What if he's just marrying me because… because of—.' Her voice cracked as she dropped her head and placed a hand over her stomach. As Hermione placed her hand on Ginny's still flat stomach as well, Ginny knew that her friend understood precisely what she was talking about.

'What this? If anything, this would give Harry the excuse he needed to get you shackled, cooking for him and popping out little midgets with glasses even sooner.' Hermione reassured her, 'Ginny, Harry loves you and you know he's not marrying you just because you're pregnant…' She gave Ginny a reassuring squeeze, 'He's marrying you because he's afraid your mum will find out…'

Hermione was jolted back to the present by Fred's disgruntled yelp. Mrs Weasley also seated in the back of the car on Ginny's other side, was currently half-leaned over Fred's seat frantically trying to straighten out his dress robes.

'Mum, get off! You're choking me. Ginny! Tell mum to get off me. I don't know why you're making such a fuss.' Fred exclaimed.

Mrs Weasley gave Fred a sharp tug on the ear before settling back into her seat.

'My baby is getting married today. I think I'm entitled to a bit of fuss. Besides with the two of you monkeying around all the time, I'd half given up hope on having anymore grandchildren.'

Hermione felt Ginny stiffen at her side. Her slightly green complexion clashed horribly with her vivid red hair and her hands trembled with nerves. Hermione reached down to clasp Ginny's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Startled, Ginny looked up at Hermione before giving a wobbly smile.

'This is it.' George exclaimed, pulling the car to a halt. He and Fred quickly jumped out of the car and came around the back to open the doors for the ladies.

'Hope you're ready to kiss the boy and make him cry, Ginny.' George grinned as he opened the door for his mum.

This comment earned him a pinch on the leg and a well-known make-sure-you-behave glare from Mrs Weasley, before he was shoved, unceremoniously, to the side. Hermione exited through the other door (graciously opened for her by Fred) and went around the car to join Mrs Weasley, who was helping Ginny out of the car. Hermione would have leaned down to offer Ginny her own hand but she feared that her dress robe may not withstand the pressure. Hermione shook her head: the tight strawberry parfait colored dress was the least of her troubles. Greg was coming to Ginny and Harry's wedding reception, and Greg was extremely likely to take note of a number of slightly strange occurrences. Greg was also likely to ask Hermione a number of questions regarding said strange occurrences; questions Hermione didn't think she was ready to answer.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione looked around her and couldn't help the smile tugging at her lips. The Burrow had not changed from the time she had first paid a visit. The five chimneys still stood crookedly on the red roof, and the fat chickens were still pecking their way around the front yard. Hermione turned to Ginny and saw the tears well up in her eyes at the sight of her childhood home. This was definitely the perfect place to have Ginny and Harry's wedding.

The door was opened by a broadly grinning Mr Weasley, dressed in his best robes. He ushered them all in with a quick peck on his wife's cheek and hugs for everyone.

'They're all waiting for you out back.' Mr Weasley said, giving Ginny another tight hug.

Hermione was just about to follow Fred and George out into the backyard, where the ceremony was to be held, when she felt a buzzing in the pocket of her dress robe. She gave Ginny a quick tap on the shoulder.

'Sorry Ginny,' Hermione took out her phone, 'It's Greg. I better get this. Besides, the wait will do Harry good.'

Ginny simply nodded vaguely, her nerves getting the better of her. Hermione flipped open the phone and made her way out the front door again.

'Hey Greg,' she had no doubt that it was Greg, since he was the one who had given the mobile to her: "just-in-case." The phone crackled, most likely because of magical interference, so Hermione took a step further into the front yard.

'Greg. Are you there?'

'Hey Hermione, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…' Greg's voice came through the phone.

'Er… bad news?' Hermione could hardly stop the sense of relief ballooning within her, 'Don't tell me you can't make it to the reception.'

'I'm sorry. It's just my team are so close to a breakthrough right now. We really need all hands on deck.'

'That's fine. Really. I know how important your work is to you right now, so do what you have to do.'

'Hermione, don't be like that. You know I would—.'

'No, really, I'm serious; I'm fine about you not coming. I promise.'

'Seriously?... Well thanks, hon. You are the most understanding fiancée in the Universe and I know I don't deserve you. Tell Harry and Ginny that I owe them a round for the no-show. Right, gotta get back to work. I love you, Hermione.'

'Right, I've got to go too. They're about to start without me. Bye.' Hermione quickly closed the phone and slipped it back into her pocket before racing back into the house.

'Hey Ginny, I'm afraid Greg isn't going to make it later.' Hermione said, panting slightly, 'He said—.'

Hermione stopped as she looked out the window. Her gaze cut across to the furthest corner of the Weasley's back yard. Underneath the large apple tree, away from all the other guests, the lone figure of Draco Malfoy stood.

A pit the size of the Grand Canyon appeared in Hermione's stomach. She had known he would return; had in fact been anticipating his reappearance into society ever since she got his note. However, she definitely had not pictured him here: at this time and place, and it shook her.

'Hermione are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost.' Ginny queried, feeling worried. She stepped towards Hermione and followed the line of her gaze.

Hermione felt spurred to action and took a step towards the back door.

'No way… There is absolutely no way I am letting him ruin this. No way.' Hermione cried.

'Hermione, wait…I'm sorry. Harry didn't want me to say anything,' Ginny whispered, turning away to avoid eye contact.

Hermione tore her gaze from Draco to stare at Ginny incredulously.

'You mean Harry actually knows Draco is here. That he actually doesn't mind the fact that Draco Malfoy, his boyhood nemesis, is at his wedding? Oh I'm sorry I didn't realize hell had frozen over.'

'Hermione, please,' Ginny pleaded with her friend, the bouquet in her hand trembling.

'I'm sorry. Right I'm just in some alternate universe in which Harry and Draco are happy friends and his reappearance out of no-where is normal. Okay I can do this. Okay, let's go.' Hermione babbled, trying to calm herself.

'Don't Hermione. I just—.'

'Please Ginny, I just… I just can't talk about this… about him right now. Let's just get you married, okay? I'll deal with my own problems.' Hermione pleaded shakily.

With her brow furrowed with worry, Ginny reached over to clasp Hermione's hand.

'Let's do it.'

As the girls walked to the back door, Mrs Weasley's head popped into the kitchen.

'Are you ready, girls?' Everyone's waiting.' Mrs Weasley beamed.

Hermione fixed on her smile and pretended to drag Ginny out the door. This was Ginny's day and there was no way she was going to ruin it for her. There was no way she was letting _him_ ruin it, either.

'Let's get this party started.' Hermione cheered.

As they made their way out to the beautifully decorated backyard, all the guests turned to face them, before standing up out of their seats. Hermione gave Ginny a final hug, before handing her over to her father.

'This is it, Ginny: your special moment.'

'You look beautiful sweetie.' Mr Weasley told his daughter proudly.

Hermione turned around once more to face the aisle created by the rows of chairs that were currently filled with wedding guests. At the very end of the aisle, Professor Dumbledore stood looking very regal in dress robes of silver and white (decorated with gold shooting stars). He was obviously trying to tell Harry a joke of some sort, but Harry was too dazed to notice. Harry was looking rather pale and slightly shell-shocked, as he stared down at the carpet runner that had been laid down as a makeshift aisle. Standing besides him, Ron gave Harry a tap on the shoulder before nodding in Ginny's direction. Harry turned his gaze towards them. A stupid grin appeared on his face and he lifted his hand to give a wave. Hermione rolled her eyes with a smile as she turned back to see an equally stupid grin on Ginny's face as she waved back at her husband-to-be. This was what it was all about. Not unwelcome guests or Hermione's burning need for answers, but Harry and Ginny; and the celebration of their love. She could deal with Draco and his perfectly timed reappearance later, Hermione thought determinedly, but right now…

The music began, causing Hermione's head to bob up. She caught Ron's eye and he gave her a mischievous wink. Winking back, Hermione began the procession forward. Determinedly looking forward and trying to push a certain blond wedding crasher out of her mind, she caught Dumbledore's gaze. For a second, Hermione believed she saw a note of concern in his eyes, but shook the thought aside when she got to Harry's side. She flashed Harry a smile but really shouldn't have bothered, since he had eyes only for Ginny. When Mr Weasley draped Ginny's hand over Harry's, Hermione shuffled over to Ginny's side and took the bride's bouquet.

Harry gave a nervous twitch as he gently held Ginny's hand.

'Hi.' He whispered.

'Hi.' Ginny laughed.

And without further a due, the entire bridal party turned to face Dumbledore. His brilliant eyes shone with happiness as he reached out to grasp both Harry and Ginny's free hands.

'All of us gathered here today…know that this has been a long time coming,' Dumbledore began.

'Here, here!' The twins, seated in the front row, cheered.

With a laugh, Dumbledore continued, 'Now despite my many years as Headmaster of Hogwarts, and my years of experience within the Wizengamot, while I am qualified to perform this ceremony I must confess that it has been many decades since anyone has asked me to do so. Hence, I wish to forewarn you of any blunders I may make and ask you all to forgive an old man's dithering.'

Beside Hermione, Harry and Ginny seemed to visibly relax and their audience gave Dumbledore an encouraging round of applause. With a quick clearing of the throat, Dumbledore gave a wave of his hand to indicate that the guests should be seated, and then began:

'Love is the most sacred bond between two people. The attraction and feeling is unlike any other and one can never truly understand its depth or its power until one has been deeply in love. It is not simply the feeling of wanting to be with someone, and because of this ignoring their countless faults. There is no changing your mind; there is no till death do you part. Love can and will last beyond this lifetime, affecting not only your own lives but the lives of those around you…'

Hermione turned to see tears shimmering in Harry's eyes, and instinctively knew he was thinking of his late parents. Her heart clenched at the thought but she forced herself to turn back to Dumbledore.

'…And before me, I see the beginnings of such a lifelong union. Here before me stand Harry Potter and Ginevra Weasley, expressing their commitment to a lifelong love.' Dumbledore placed Ginny's hand in Harry's, so that the two were now facing one another, both hands clasped tightly within each others.

'As you enter into this marriage, speak your vows of love so that you may never feel fear of inability to express your feelings.'

As if unable to stop himself, Harry pulled Ginny's hand up to him and placed a kiss on the back of her hand, before looking at her with a smile.

'I, Harry Potter,'

'I, Ginevra Weasley,'

'Take you to be my wife,'

'Take you to be my husband,'

'My partner in life…er…and death,'

Ginny laughed with their audience before continuing, 'and my one true love.'

'All that I am, I give to you.'

'All that I have, I share with you.'

'I will cherish our union,'

'And love you more each day.'

'I will trust and respect you,'

'Laugh with you and cry with you,'

'Love you through good times and bad,'

'Regardless of the obstacles we may face together.'

As one the bride and groom declared, 'I give you my hand, my heart, and my love from this day forward.'

The Weasley backyard fairly shook with applause. The twins were stomping the ground with their feet; Bill and Charlie let out whoops of joy and Mrs Weasley had her head buried in the front of Mr Weasley's robes, undoubtedly crying tears of joy.

Dumbledore raised his hands into the air to gain their attention.

'If I could please have both the best man and the maid-of-honor light the flames please.'

With a bit of difficulty, Hermione pulled her wand out of her pocket and conjured a blue tongue of fire over Ginny's head. Ron imitated this gesture over Harry's head, though his flame was a violent shade of orange.

'You might want to watch he doesn't burn you, Harry.' Fred…or George called out merrily. This was followed by a sound thump and groan.

Hermione saw that Ron's ears had turned a slight pink shade as they all turned once again to face Dumbledore.

Dumbledore held his hand high, in front of the individual flames hovering over the bride and groom.

'The light of the souls of these two individuals, have brought them life. Within this life they have found love, and it is this love that unites them here today.'

With these words, he brought his hands together, causing the blue and orange flames to meld into a larger silver blaze.

'Through the strength of your one light, you commit yourselves to a new future, one which love has created before our eyes. May we ever respect the sanctity of this gift. What love has joined, man shall not divide.' Dumbledore paused with a joyous look upon his face, 'With that said, you may now kiss your bride.'

The stupid grin reappeared on Harry's face as he leaned down to rest his forehead on his new wife's. With a great sigh of relief, he pulled Ginny into his arms and gave her a gentle kiss…Nothing else mattered but Harry and Ginny.


	4. The Prodigal Son Returns

To my thousands of eager and supportive fans (yes, I know sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, but there's a reason I'm so short) here it is: the FOURTH chapter. Now seriously, I would like to thank those of you who are reading my fan fiction. I sincerely hope you enjoy it, and that the often long waits (who am I kidding, there's always a long wait) between chapters are worth it. Oh and if you don't like this chapter, feel free to blame Halfling, since it was she who demanded (very annoyingly) that I persevere. After a prolonged mourning period after HBP, I finally feel like I'm ready to move forward and completely ignore the contents of book six. So go ahead, and enjoy (if you will) my newest chapter of this highly unlikely coupling. - Hobytlah

**The Prodigal Son Returns**

With their eyes firmly adhered to each other, Hermione was rather certain Harry and Ginny would not notice her hunting down one of their wedding guests. Yet no matter how hard she tried to make her way to the back of the Weasley's none-too-large garden she was continuously obstructed.

'Hello Hermione. What a pink dress robe you're wearing,' Luna Lovegood beamed at her, having suddenly popped up in front of Hermione. "I never really pictured you as wearing pink well. Ginny looks nice though, doesn't she?'

Hermione forced herself not to peer over Luna's shoulder for escape, and pasted on a smile.

'She does look beautiful, doesn't she?'

'Oh, and so happy too. I'm so glad she's happy. I've always liked Ginny… and Harry too.' Luna said, 'It's a pity she'll have to stop her quidditch coaching soon. I mean what with broom fumes being toxic for babies.'

Hermione raised an eyebrow at Luna. For all her airy-fairy ways she was certainly observant.

'Um…sorry Luna, but I've got to run. Loads to do, you know bridesmaid duties.'

'Yes, I hope you checked the bouquets for Snarkles.'

Hermione sidestepped Luna and squeezed through the mad throng of people to where she could still see _his_ blond head. She could feel her already insipid smile start to slide of her face as she was furthered hampered by guests. Hermione tried to put on an air of needing to be somewhere in a hurry to account for her hasty smiles and hellos.

Finally, it seemed as if she had come to the outskirts of the enormous wedding party. Hermione could feel the material of her tight dress robe cutting into her ribs as she tried to catch her breath. She stopped where she stood and simply stared at him as her breathing returned to normal.

Draco Malfoy had not moved from underneath the apple tree from the time the ceremony began. As she stood there staring at his still figure, a niggling voice whispered at the back of her mind. _'He's standing there waiting for you, with every expectation that you will come to him. You're playing right into his hands.'_

Hermione froze at the whisper of truth. Ten years, she had waited for this, waited for an explanation. But a lot had changed in the ten years of his absence. Hermione now knew that she didn't want to be one of those girls who kept going back. She wouldn't play Draco's game anymore. She knew he was watching her, seeing her hesitation. And she turned from him; knowing it wouldn't be easy to do but also believing herself to be strong enough to forget Draco and all the pain he still caused her.

She had not gone two steps when Hermione felt the wind knocked out of her. Her brain barely registered that she'd been tackled before she was being swung about.

'Weasley! Put me down!' Hermione screamed, closing her eyes against her swirling surroundings.

No matter the sorrow that Draco's mere presence brought her or the fact she felt like she was going to reveal the contents of her breakfast to the crowd, Hermione could not stop the laughter that bubbled from her. Hermione stumbled as the twirling suddenly stopped and was forced to grip the arms around her to prevent from collapsing to the ground.

'How did you know it was me?'

'I took a wild guess,' Hermione said, slowly opening her eyes to see, not Fred or George as she had expected, but Ron holding onto her. 'Ron! Are you drunk? What do you think you're doing swinging me around like a chandelier?'

'I thought you swung _from_ chandeliers,' he laughed, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Hermione smiled sardonically at him: a look Ron quickly recognized as trouble. And in an attempt to retreat, he pulled away from her. The loud tearing sound seemed to go on forever, followed by Hermione's squeal of shock. Ron's retreating figure froze at the sound. Hermione was staring at him, horrorstruck, her hands clutching at the back of her dress.

'Ron, look what you've done to my dress!'

'Me? I didn't do-.'

Ron looked down at the ornate buttons on the sleeve of his dress robe. They must have caught onto the dress as he pulled away.

'Um…don't worry about it. I'll fix it. I promise. Just turn around,' he said.

Hermione obliged (a crowd of guests had formed around them to investigate the commotion, so she couldn't give into the urge to give Ron a good thumping).

'Don't give me a tail,' she said over her shoulder in jest. Then she saw the mischievous grin that lit up Ron's face. 'Ronald Weasley, don't you dare!'

Not trusting the look of delight on his face, Hermione turned to the only person she knew to save her, 'Mrs Weasley. Mrs Weasley, I need your help.'

Ron paled, hastily putting his wand away and trying to blend into the crowd to escape blame for this mishap. As Mrs Weasley bustled over with a little gasp, Hermione gratefully gave over to her machinations.

Amidst the head shaking, dress repairs and dirty looks sent in Ron's direction, Hermione was able to forget a certain blond interloper. She allowed herself to be bundled into the ministry car set towards the Potter-Weasley reception, for further celebration of this joyous day.

Draco watched all this with a harsh attempt at a smile on his lips. He did not want to be here. And if there had been any other way he would not have returned. Draco was never one to lie to himself. He knew that Hermione still had a hold over him. He just hoped that Hermione would be prepared for what that hold would cost her.

'You must be relieved to get out of this,' Hermione said wistfully as she helped Ginny out of her wedding gown. They were standing in a small room above the ballroom where the reception was being held. As Ginny pulled on her silvery blue dress robe, she stared at Hermione from the mirror.

As she smoothed out her robe she whispered, 'I'm sorry.'

Hermione looked up and their gaze met in the mirror. There was no need for clarification and Hermione knew she would not convince Ginny that she was blameless.

'I knew he was back anyway, Gin. I knew and I didn't tell you. So I guess we're even.'

'But you didn't know he was coming to the wedding... I didn't know how to tell you.'

Ginny turned to look at Hermione with worry in her eyes. Hermione shook her head and clasped Ginny's hand in her own.

'I don't blame you. You were probably worried I was going to back out of the wedding, you stupid cow. Now come on, everyone's waiting for you.'

Ginny gave Hermione a light shove on the shoulder for the bovine comment and got a wink in return.

Hermione shrugged, 'Besides, it's over. He came, I saw and it's over.'

She pulled open the door and walked headlong into a rather solid human chest. She stepped aside before Ginny could barrel ahead as well.

'I'm sorry. I didn't –.' Hermione stopped when she saw it was Draco. Her heart suddenly seemed to thump loudly. 'What are you doing here?'

He didn't even deign to reply. Draco wasn't even looking at her. Rather, he looked beyond Hermione towards Ginny.

'I wondered if I might have the pleasure of escorting the bride downstairs.' Draco drawled lazily.

Hermione glared at him through narrowed eyes for a tense few seconds. Without a word she released Ginny's hand, and bounded down the stairs before blending in with the crowd on the dance floor.

'Shall we?'

Draco gallantly offered Ginny his arm and she silently wrapped a hand around it. As they began to descend the stairs, Ginny broke the heavy silence.

'I never knew you to be such a charmer, Malfoy.'

'There's a lot you don't know about me, Ginevra.'

'I know you've saved my husband's life on numerous occasions. And for that I am ever grateful. I know that's why he believes he can trust you. I also know that I wouldn't trust you as far as Hermione could fly.'

Draco gave a sharp laugh. The harsh bark made Ginny look at him and she saw that the laughter failed to reach his eyes.

'You always were a clever one, Weasley.'

'It's Potter now.'

They had reached the ballroom landing and Ginny calculated that she had approximately ten seconds before everyone's eyes were on her. With that in mind, she quickly dug her heel into Draco's foot. The expression on his face didn't change at all to indicate the excruciating pain he must be experiencing.

'That was for Hermione. If you do anything, anything at all to hurt her…' Ginny lowered her voice, 'Just know that I'll be watching you, Malfoy.'

Having pushed through the crowd, Harry took his new bride's hand from Draco's arm. He lowered his head until his lips were brushing against Ginny's ear.

'You can take your foot off Draco's now,' he whispered. Ginny beamed at him, before obeying.

'You're a lucky man, Potter,' Draco said seriously.

'You could have been too,' Harry said, his voice barely audible, 'You need to talk to Hermione, Malfoy.'

'Don't you worry. It's on my to-do list.'

'I mean it, Draco. You have to speak to Hermione. That's something I'm not going to do for you.'

Simultaneously, the three of them turned to watch as Hermione tried to furtively escape into the gardens outside.

'And here's your chance,' Ginny smiled, before leading Harry towards the dance floor.

Draco ignored the stares he was getting from fellow guests; particularly the menacing ones he was receiving from certain red-haired males, and retraced Hermione's steps out into the cold night.

Hermione felt relieved to feel the crisp air against her cheeks after the crush inside. It had been a very long day, and her feet were aching like there was no tomorrow. With a relieved sigh, she slipped out of her beautiful but pain inducing high heels. She held onto the stone railing as her feet became accustomed to being free again. Hermione forced herself to focus on the cold breeze on her skin, the smooth concrete beneath her feet, anything to stop the anger and hurt brought to mind by Draco. She should have known he wouldn't have simply left after the wedding. No, that was just too damn considerate for him. And then for him to ignore her as he did; that was petty. As much as Hermione hated to admit it to herself, it had hurt. She shook her head and reiterated to herself that she was _not_ going to go down that road again.

'What? No weeping welcome at my sudden resurrection?'

Hermione stiffened at the sound of the drawling voice behind her. The callousness of his tone hit her hard. She didn't need this now. In fact she didn't need this: full stop.

'For a grieving girlfriend, you don't seem to be very surprised that I've returned from the dead.'

Draco had expected a reaction from her; had in fact been planning to coax the feisty Hermione he once knew so well, out for a round. But the sight of her clinging to the balustrade as if to absorb its strength, made his jaw tighten. He strode forward and reached out for Hermione.

'Don't!' Hermione's voice shook with emotion. As she turned to face him, the tears streaming down her face glinted in the moonlight. 'Don't touch me. Don't come near me.' Once she began, Hermione knew she couldn't stop. All the emotions she had kept pent up inside herself came rushing forward, 'What? Did you think you could just waltz back in here like the freaking prodigal son, and I'd welcome you back with open arms? Well, I'm not going to welcome you back from the dead, Draco. I knew you weren't dead! You left me to think you died but for ten years I knew you weren't dead. If you had died, Draco, a part of me would have died as well and I would have felt it. I would have known.'

Hermione hated that she was crying in front of him; hated that she couldn't pretend that his return had no effect on her what-so-ever.

'So don't come back here with your snide comments and playing your stupid little games, expecting…' Hermione broke off, sobbing. She covered her face with her hands, trying to hide the tears that wouldn't stop.

With both his hands now stuffed into his pockets, Draco forced himself to watch Hermione's tears fall. He hated to see her like this. But Draco knew Hermione. He knew how she worked and he knew how to fix this.

'In the name of Salazar, Granger, I never knew my leaving would make you so bitter,' Draco drawled.

At that, Hermione felt every nerve ending in her body stiffen. She swept her tears away and stared at Draco incredulously, dumbfounded by his arrogance. It didn't take long for Hermione to feel the anger burning within her.

'Don't, for even one moment think you had any part in making me who I am today. If I'm bitter, it's because _I_ made myself that way. Don't you dare assume you had any effect on me what-so-ever.'

Draco laughed, now this was the Hermione he knew.

'Oh come on Hermione, who do you think you're kidding? If I had no effect on you what-so-ever, you wouldn't be trembling,' He stepped towards her, reaching up to cup her cheek, 'Trembling at the mere thought of me touching you.'

Hermione guffawed loudly in his face and slapped his hand away. This not being precisely the reaction Draco had anticipated, the arrogant grin on his face slipped.

'Trembling at the mere thought of your touching me?' Hermione mocked. Fluttering her eyelashes, she continued in a sickly sweet voice, 'Oh Draco, don't you come any closer lest you be forced to use your spindly arms to catch me as I swoon because of your mere presence.'

Draco's ridiculous comments had served to shake Hermione out of her momentary emotional lapse, and she knew she had to get as far away from him as possible. With a final derisive glare, she pushed past him roughly to re-enter the ballroom.

'Stay away from me, Draco.'

Inside, the celebrations were still in full swing. After her round with Draco, and full-ranged mood swing, all Hermione wished to do was go home, take a long, hot bath and go to bed. As they were still clinging to each other like limpets, Hermione was fairly certain that Ginny and Harry wouldn't notice her premature departure. Impatiently, she summoned her cloak and strode towards the exit. Someone grabbed her arm, and Hermione spun around, ready to sucker-punch Draco.

'You're not leaving, are you?' Hermione's fiancé, Greg, grinned, 'I just got here.'

He failed to notice her livid expression and Hermione could only frown at him in surprise.

'Greg, what are you doing here? I thought you said you had work.'

'Everything fell through at the last minute, so I just thought I might as well join in the celebrations. Are you alright, Hermione? You're looking a bit peaky.'

Hermione didn't respond, simply set her eyes on her fiancé's features. A look of concern marred his brow. He had strong, defined cheekbones, friendly, tortoise-brown eyes and fine golden brown hair. His tanned skin looked almost golden, set against the black of the smart tuxedo he was wearing. Nevertheless, the sharp face of a pale blond memory, intruded on her thoughts. Hermione shook the image away.

'I'm fine. I'm just ready for bed.'

Greg gathered her to his side and dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

'Um…Hermione, is there a reason you're not wearing any shoes?'

Hermione looked down at her feet and realized she had left her shoes out on the balcony. There was absolutely no way she was going back to get them.

'Excuse me.'

Greg turned at the sound of the voice, spinning Hermione with him. Hermione turned her face from Draco, who stood before them holding her shoes.

'Hermione left these behind. I thought she might need them.'

'Very Cinderella of you, Hermione,' Greg chuckled, not sensing her unease.

'I'm certainly no Prince Charming,' Draco said quietly

Hermione frowned at Draco's knowledge of the muggle fairy tale. Draco merely raised an eyebrow as he offered his right hand to Greg.

'I'm Draco Malfoy.'

'Greg Johnson. I'm Hermione's fiancé.'

Hermione saw Draco's gaze narrow and his jaw tighten for the merest of seconds before he swept his gaze over her.

'Well…Congratulations. I must say, that is a very unusual engagement ring,' he said, staring at her left hand.

'Um well, no actually. We haven't yet gone ring shopping. Can't seem to find the time,' Greg looked at Draco in confusion.

'Ah…my mistake,' Draco declared, a ghost of a smile playing at his lips.

Hermione was no longer listening to the conversation. She looked down at her left hand and stared at the steel band on her wedding finger. The ring that she had slipped on ten years before, in a moment of grief, and promptly forgotten about…

Disclaimer: All characters (except the insipid Greg) belong to Ms J.K Rowling.


	5. Back to Work

**Back to work**

'Um…Minister…'

Hermione looked up from her work to see her personal assistant, Colin Creevey, peeking from her office doorway.

'Sorry to interrupt, but he's here…again.'

Hermione gave Colin a fixed smile. Over the past four days, Draco Malfoy had, without fail, shown up at the Ministry with the request to see the Minister of Magic. Hermione had also, without fail, refused to see him.

'You know the drill, Colin.'

Colin gave a small nod and disappeared from the door.

Hermione tried to get back to her work, but after she blotted the parchment for the third time, she put her quill down. Despite the constant rejection, Draco had adamantly insisted on waiting until such time as the Minister was free to see him, and only left each day when the Ministry closed to visitors. Hence, Hermione had had to put up with Draco's continuous presence in her Ministry for the past four days. Needless to say, it had not been a very productive week. She should have known it wouldn't be easy avoiding Draco, particularly after what Hermione now referred to as _'the reception'_.

After the horrific episode at the reception, Greg had kindly taken Hermione home. As usual, he had tried to invite himself in, but pleading illness, Hermione had sent him off home. Once she closed the door, Hermione had pulled at the steel band on her wedding finger. She had pushed thoughts of how it could have possibly sat on her finger without her notice for so long, to the furthermost corners of her mind. All she wanted was to get the damned thing off.

The ring caught against her knuckle, but Hermione wrenched it determinedly. She gasped as it finally came off, flexing her fingers against the pain. Hermione refused to think about it, so strode into her bedroom and dropped it into the drawer of her bedside table. She gratefully peeled off her torture device of a dress and padded into the bathroom in her underwear.

As Hermione turned on the tap of her shower, she noticed her hand was trembling. She was utterly unsettled, and she knew Draco's ring was entirely to blame. Hermione felt somewhat overwhelmed by the irrational fear that had suddenly settled on her. Though she hadn't taken note of the ring over the past years, now she had taken it off she felt as if something was missing. Unable to shake the feeling, Hermione flicked the taps off, pulled on her dressing gown and walked back out to her room.

Without understanding her own actions, Hermione found herself rummaging through her chest of drawers until she came across a long chain. She reached into the bedside table for the ring and strung it onto the chain, before slipping the necklace over her head. Tucking the chain underneath her dressing gown, the ring fitted snugly against the valley of her breasts.

As she fiddled with the chain now, Hermione thought she had been right to slip the ring onto a chain. It sat invisibly under her work robe, but the metal that dug into her chest provided her with a constant reminder of Draco's desertion. With Draco unwilling to fade pleasantly into the background she couldn't afford to forget it.

Another knock at her door pulled Hermione out of her thoughts. This time Colin walked into the office with a piece of folded parchment in his hand.

'Mr Malfoy wanted me to give you this, Minister,' he said, and waited as Hermione took the note and read it.

_How long will you run and hide?_

Hemrione ground her back teeth, 'Send him in!'

Colin jumped in surprise before scurrying out to oblige. Hermione crumpled the note in her hand. If he had the nerve to swagger into her office she would damn the consequences and punch him in the nose.

Much to her disappointment, he didn't swagger; Draco simply followed Colin into the office wearing an unreadable expression. Hermione waited until Colin left the room, before she barked, 'What do you want with me, Draco?'

'What do I want with you? My, my, someone's getting a tad pompous, aren't they?' Draco uttered sardonically, 'Contrary to popular belief, Hermione, the world does not revolve around you.'

Hermione's eyes flashed with anger and Draco had to fake a cough to hide his smile. She pulled herself to full height in her chair and picked up her quill, holding it tightly.

'Be that as it may, Mr Malfoy, but I am the Minister of Magic. Thus this Ministry and anything within the bounds of this Ministry does revolve around me. And I would prefer it if you would revolve around me at a more prudent distance. Get out Draco. You've wasted enough of my time. I don't want to see you in my Ministry again.'

'So I suppose a job at the Ministry would be out of the question, then?'

The quill in Hermione's hand snapped under her tightened grip. She swore softly as the brittle plume cut into her palm. Without a word, Draco stood and grasped her cut hand in his. Their eyes met and Draco raised his eyebrows at her, as if daring her to pull away. When Hermione didn't move, Draco drew her hand towards his lips. She could feel the heat of his breath on her fingers as he whispered unintelligibly. Hermione struggled to fight the childish urge to pull her hand away but before she could say anything, Draco's whispers stopped. He folded her hand into a fist and Hermione pulled it back sharply, avoiding his piercing stare. She brushed her fingers over her newly healed palm, frowning in confusion. When Hermione looked up at Draco, she saw that his gaze had flickered to her unadorned left hand. Completely unbidden, whispers of Draco's decade-old words came to mind: _Received upon birth; removed only in death_.

Hermione had long speculated about how Draco had managed to remove the ring. Nevertheless, she still had to stifle a gasp when she looked down to his hand and noticed for the first time that Draco's index finger was indeed missing.

Draco's entire demeanor seemed to change as he noticed the direction of her gaze. With a fixed smile, Draco reached into the folds of his black robes and pulled out a flattened scroll of parchment, throwing it onto Hermione's desk. Hermione simple stared at the scroll that rolled in front of her, making no move to pick it up.

'So I guess I'll be seeing you around…Minister.' With a curt nod, Draco turned to leave.

'No, you won't Draco,' Hermione stood up and growled, but he had already left the room.

Drawing a deep breath in order to calm herself down, Hermione sat back into her chair and looked down again at her completely healed palm. She didn't want to think about how Draco had done it. She didn't want to think about Draco, full stop. She allowed herself a frustrated yell and a good hard thump on the table before she regained her composure. She knew she should simply sweep Draco's scroll away and return to her work, but curiosity got the better of her. Conjuring herself a cup of tea, Hermione reached out for the wrinkled parchment and unrolled it.

As she scanned the contents of the scroll, the cup in her hand trembled, spilling tea everywhere. Quickly placing the cup safely back onto the desk, Hermione cleaned up the mess with a flick of her wand, before storming towards her fireplace. Reaching into the pot sitting on the mantel, she grabbed a handful of green powder and threw it into the fire.

'Harry! Get in here now!' she stuck her head directly into the now-green flames and screamed the command. As Hermione glared at the fireplace, jaw clenched, a large shape appeared and seconds later, Harry Potter was clambering out of the fireplace, shaking the ash from his robes.

'You summoned?' he smiled but upon seeing the ferocious expression on Hermione's face, the grin slipped. Harry held up his hands in a defensive gesture, 'Hey, I'm a newly wedded man. You can do me no harm. You wouldn't want to leave poor Ginny a widow, now would you?'

'I'm certainly contemplating it,' Hermione said gravely.

'Ouch, Hermione,' he laughed as he thumped his chest with a fist. However, when his friend didn't reply, Harry finally realized that this meeting was a serious one. 'What's wrong?'

With a hardened expression on her face, Hermione all but threw the scroll of parchment at Harry. 'I want you to explain this to me.'

'They look like references to me, Hermione,' he said quietly as he read the scroll.

'Don't play games with me, Harry. I expect better of you.'

'What do you want me to say?'

'I want the truth, Harry! I want to know why this is the first time I have been informed of Draco Malfoy's interference with Auror matters. Why, as the head of the Auror division, you failed to inform me that my Aurors have been saved on countless missions by an outsider!'

'It started five years ago, before you were Minister…'

'But it didn't end five years ago.'

'Would you just listen, Hermione,' Harry shouted back at her in frustration. Hermione pursed her lips and turned to take a seat. Harry followed suit.

'As I was saying, it started five years ago. You remember Kingsley's last investigation? He was on the verge of retirement and we were tracking a series of muggle attacks and rapes. He'd finally tracked it down to a former death eater, surprise, surprise. It should have been a cut and dry case and Kingsley wanted to handle it himself, but I wouldn't let him. When we got there, it was too much for even the two of us. It wasn't, as we had suspected, just the one warlock but a group of them. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Malfoy taking each of them down. He literally saved our lives…'

'And you didn't think –.' Hermione demanded, but clamped her mouth shut again after a hard glare from Harry.

'I'm not stupid, Hermione. Of course I was suspicious of his motives. I thought he'd definitely use the episode against me, but he just disappeared. I'd seen how shattered you were when he left you, so there was no way in hell I was going to tell you. Over the years we had a few close shaves, and Draco kept turning up at the opportune moment like some ugly Superman. The man saved my life twice, and all he asked for in return was that I didn't tell you.'

'And you trust him?'

'Whether I trust him or not is between Draco and myself,' Harry said quietly, 'If Draco's asking you for a position as an Auror, you're going to have to make that decision for yourself. But I'm asking you to put your personal feelings aside and keep in mind that we are in serious need of decent Aurors. We've been understaffed for years, and for you to turn away a perfect candidate because of personal misgivings would be folly.'

Hermione rubbed at her temples as she comprehended the truth in Harry's words; much as she hated to agree. 'I should have you suspended for with-holding information,' she muttered.

'At least, I'd be able to take Ginny on that honeymoon she wanted.'

Hermione reached out to take Draco's scroll back from Harry. Her eyes scanned the contents once more before she threw it on her desk.

'Fine! If he has been such a great help to the Ministry these past years, why not let him join up?' she uttered, 'Tell Malfoy that he has a position as an Auror under your supervision, and Harry…if anything goes wrong –.'

'Tell him yourself, Hermione. You can't avoid him forever,' he interrupted softly, 'Right now, I'm heading home to my wife and we're going to Bora Bora.'

Hermione scoffed at that. As if Harry ever willingly took more than a day off work. Harry turned to leave the office (in the conventional manner) but stopped at the door.

'Listen, Hermione. I'm sorry. I realize now that I should have told you, regardless of whether you were ready to hear it or not.'

Hermione saw the sadness in his eyes, and felt guilty for heaping her mixed emotions on her friend.

'Get out of here, Harry,' she said with a smile, 'Before I really suspend you.'

As soon as he shut her door, Hermione summoned Colin into her office.

I want you to track Draco Malfoy's every move over the past ten years. Get it to me as soon as possible,' she commanded.

She needed all the ammunition she could get.

* * *

On Friday morning, Draco arrived at the Ministry at his now usual time of 10:30am. However, contrary to his previous visits, today he was sent straight into the Minister's office. He sat down before a tense looking Hermione, and smiled.

'I'm glad you've finally come to your senses.'

'Gods, Draco, must you drawl every single word? Why do you have to sound so damned cocky all the time?' Hermione snapped.

Draco's eyes narrowed dangerously but he chose to ignore her comment.

'I assume this meeting is not for you to enjoy the pleasure of my company, but to discuss my wish for a position at this Ministry,' he said tersely, 'So let's get straight to the point. It's hardly recondite work, Minister. I may lack any formal qualifications but I make up for that in experience: if you would consult my references.'

'Oh, I've done more than consult your references, Mr Malfoy. I'm well aware of your "experience". You've been tracked from Tibet to Tasmania trading as a mercenary. Not to mention your interference in Auror affairs.'

'My so-called interference saved the lives of many of your Aurors. They certainly appreciated my _interference_.'

'Nonetheless, your family history and track record for disappearing hardly gives you credence.'

Hermione had wanted to see how far she could push Draco, but as soon as the comment was out of her mouth she knew she had gone too far. Draco stared back at her gravely before standing up out of his seat.

'You've clearly already made your decision, Minister. I sincerely hope I haven't wasted too much of your time or distracted you with my presence this past week.'

As Draco strode towards the door, Hermione closed her eyes against the guilt she felt. This was an entirely professional decision; she shouldn't have let her personal feelings interfere.

'Wait!' she sighed, 'I apologize. That comment was out of hand.' Hermione waited for him to turn around before she continued, 'Report to the Aurors division on Monday. Like all Aurors you'll begin with a trial period under the supervision of Mr Potter.'

He responded with a brusque nod before turning again towards the door.

'Be aware, Draco, that I did not make this decision lightly and Harry won't be the only one watching you.'

'Waiting for me to slip up right?' he muttered softly, 'Well, you're in for some disappointment, Hermione.'

'I'll only be disappointed if you make me regret my decision to hire you, Malfoy,' Draco didn't respond. He'd already left the room.

Hermione suppressed a strong urge to throw something at her closed door. Draco was getting far too used to walking out on her.

**A/N:** I'd like to say a gargantuan thank you to all my readers, especially those of you who have been reviewing. It's y'all that truly motivate me to keep writing (And I think you know how much motivation I need). Thank you again. I really hope you enjoy this chapter. It was one of the first chapters I wrote for this storyline (thus explaining why it hasn't taken me five weeks to update ;0)) in a sudden burst of inspiration.

© These characters belong to J.K Rowling. (Even if I tried to claim them as my own, no one would believe me anyway)


	6. A Walk in the Park

**_A walk in the park_**

It had been a long and tiring week for Hermione. At the Ministry, she had been constantly debating, overseeing and approving things, but that's the way she liked it. It was good to be able to get back to work after the previous week's distraction by Draco's presence. While Hermione hadn't seen him recently, she was well informed of his movements. Harry had been diligent with his reports to Hermione about their newest Auror recruit.

It seemed that Draco's return was impeccably timed; He was proving an invaluable asset to Harry's team. When Harry had defeated Voldemort in a climactic show-down ten years ago, most of the wizarding world had believed that all evil was gone forever. As such, very few witches and wizards saw the need to train as Aurors, believing the positions to be redundant.

However, contrary to popular belief, evil was not gone, and could never truly be banished. While their leader was well and truly defeated, many of Voldemort's supporters still remained. Although they lacked the power and the resources to cause real mayhem, many were content to wreak silent havoc in the background. Over the years the Ministry had had to contend with numerous incidents of muggle and mudblood baiting, from petty pranks to serious acts of rape and brutality. Though the issue was no where near the scale of Voldemort's reign, it was nonetheless still a problem. Hermione's controversial appointment as Minister of Magic two years ago had not eased matters in any way.

Now the Ministry was facing a dilemma of a shortage of Aurors when the older generation were forced to retire. It was amazing what a difference just one extra wizard (in the form of Draco Malfoy) was making in the Auror division. His mysterious mercenary training and skills had assisted in an improved number of investigations leading to arrests. Draco certainly had a knack for being in the right place at the right time.

Despite her previous misgivings, Hermione was sincerely glad that Draco was proving himself admirably. From Harry's tone at each of the daily reports, it was clear that he too was impressed with the work of their recruit.

After Harry had left Hermione's office that day, she had signed the last of her approvals and then gotten ready to make her way home. At the last minute she forwent her usual apparition home and decided to walk. Although she only lived approximately twenty minutes from the Ministry, Hermione always apparated to and from work. It gave her more time to spend at the office. But this evening she yearned for some fresh air and exercise.

As she stepped out onto the London streets, Hermione was glad she had worn her pant suit combo today. She often exchanged her work robes for muggle suits. She liked to think of it as dressing in traditional garb, as was done at primary school for multi-cultural day. She still wore a black cloak, though, to ward off the chill. But between the Lord of the Rings craze and the London Goths, it was almost odd for a person not to wear one.

Hermione smiled at the opportunity to stretch out her legs and work off a week's worth of kinks. She was slightly disappointed when she saw her flat up ahead, so she made a promise to herself to do this at least once a week.

Hermione froze when she reached the flat. When she saw the door was ajar, she knew something was wrong. She pushed the door open with a frown as she reached for her wand. Although night was quickly falling outside, there was still enough light for Hermione to see that her place had been completely trashed. All her belongings were sprawled on the floor as if a hurricane had swept across her flat. She walked through the house quietly though she knew that the culprit was no longer there. No room had been left untouched. Hermione trembled, still clutching at her wand. It wasn't that she was afraid. She had faced much worse than this before. Rather, she was overwhelmed by a sense of violation, the feeling that comes when one's home is invaded and befouled.

Hermione knew that it could all be cleaned up and repaired with a flick of the wand. But as she stood in the mess of her flat, she felt absolutely drained. Nothing like this had ever happened when Ginny was here. Theirs was a reportedly safe wizarding community with only a few reclusive muggle residents. Still feeling shocked, she walked robotically towards her study.

Here too, there were books and papers everywhere. Automatically she bent down to pick up her precious books, but stopped, with a frown, as she noticed a flash of silver on her desk. Sweeping papers aside, Hermione saw that the mobile phone Greg had given her still lay there, precisely where she had left it that morning. She picked up the phone and walked out of the room again. She marched through her house, eyes searching out anything that might be of value. It was all still there: her wireless, her antique vases, her money bag. What in blue blazes was going on? Why on earth would anybody break into her house and not take anything?

Hermione continued into her bedroom but froze when she saw that the drawers of her bedside table had been overturned. She reached under her blouse for the ring attached to her necklace. For some inexplicable reason she was again profoundly glad that she had kept the ring with her.

It was growing steadily darker, but Hermione didn't bother with any lighting; nor did she start to clean up. She was feeling far too shaky and confused to do anything, even a simple tidying spell. What she truly wished for at that moment was some company. Ginny's calming presence would have been ideal, but Hermione wasn't going to be the one to interrupt the newlyweds' honeymoon. Remembering the phone she had in her hand, she quickly flipped it open and dialled the only number stored in its memory. Greg's phone rang and rang but he didn't pick up. Though this was not overly unusual, since Greg often became immersed in his work, Hermione couldn't help feeling a little upset. When the call was directed to voicemail, she hung up and sank to the floor. She leant against her bed and pulled her knees up to her chest. Leaning her chin on her knees, Hermione felt starkly alone. The house was now in complete darkness, but still she didn't get up to right her things. She didn't bother to contact the Ministry and report the burglary. The media would have a field day over the Minister's lack of security. After a while, she dimly registered the sound of a voice coming from her front door.

'Hello,' the voice called, 'Anyone here?'

Hermione stiffened; then admonished herself for doing so. Whoever had broken into her house was unlikely to call out. 'Besides, I can protect myself,' she thought, gripping her wand.

She could hear footsteps now. Whoever-it-was was now inside her house and coming closer. At the last minute she reached down to grab her mobile, just in case. Hermione slipped out of her room and tiptoed down the hallway. All was silent now. She had just reached the living room archway, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Hermione reacted instinctively, turning a kick into her assailant's side and throwing out her left hand. She stepped back ready to make the next move, only to see her mobile phone bounce off Draco Malfoy's head.

'I suppose I should know better than to sneak up on you,' Draco muttered, with one hand rubbing at his waist and the other at his head, 'But your missile certainly caught me by surprise.' He gave the phone a tap with his foot where it lay on the carpet.

'Good,' she said unfeelingly.

'What the hell happened here, Hermione?'

Hermione shook her head at him. 'What the hell are you doing here, Draco? What makes you think you can just wander into my house without an invitation?' Though she would rather eat a vat full of fish eyes than admit it, she was glad Draco was here. Snapping at him distracted her from her self-pity.

Draco scowled at her. 'Your door was open. I thought something might be wrong so I wanted to check to see if you were alright. Clearly I was mistaken.'

'And you just happened to be taking a stroll passed my house, were you?'

'No, I came here to speak with you,' Draco paused, eyes narrowing, 'Wait… You think I did this, don't you?'

They glared at each other for a long moment before Hermione finally shook her head. 'Even you aren't dumb enough to return to the scene of the crime.'

She sighed. After her momentary adrenaline rush, she was once again feeling drained. 'What do you want, Draco?' she asked quietly.

'You don't want me to help you clean this up first?' Draco was looking around her living room, but Hermione got the feeling he was trying to put off talking, despite the fact he was the one to come to her.

'No. If you want to talk; then let's go for a walk. I just want to get out of here.'

'Fine.'

Hermione walked out of the house without waiting for Draco. She felt rather stupid when he clicked the door shut and gave the handle a tap with his wand to lock it. He probably thought she was a careless idiot, and deserved to have her house broken into. Hermione frowned. It didn't matter what Draco thought of her, she told herself. He joined her and the two started down the sidewalk.

'Are you alright?' Draco asked, his voice unusually quiet.

'I'm fine.' Hermione wasn't fine. She was physically and emotionally drained. But she had no wish to return to her flat only to be left alone with a mess to clean up, so she lied. 'What was it you wanted to speak to me about?'

'I just wanted to thank you for the job.'

Hermione could only stare at him in disbelief.

'I know how much it would have tested your need for control. And I'm glad you were able to put aside your anger–.'

'I'm tired of being angry, Draco. I've been angry at you for ten years and now I'm just tired.'

They continued to walk in a companionable silence. The chill night air was beginning to make Hermione's skin tingle, but still she did not want to return to her flat. As if sensing her discomfort, Draco slipped off his own heavier cloak and wrapped it around Hermione's shoulders. She murmured a quiet thank you. Hermione didn't know what to make of this new Draco. So unexpectedly, the sullen drawling Draco she had become accustomed to in the previous weeks was gone. Now he was coming over for a chat, and offering to help her clean up a mess. It was almost like the past decade had not occurred, and she had her old boyfriend back. Before she could stop her train of thought, the words she had yearned to ask flew from her mouth.

'Why did you leave Draco?'

Draco didn't look at her, but Hermione knew he had heard her. It was clear that he had been expecting this question from her. Maybe that was why he'd been so reluctant to talk to her.

'You don't need to know why,' he paused as Hermione puffed up with indignation at being told what she might or mightn't need. 'What I mean is: even if I do tell you why I left, it's not going to change anything. It was ten years ago, Hermione. Everything has changed since. You've got Greg now and why I left ten years ago just doesn't matter anymore.'

Hermione wanted to disagree but she knew that Draco had made up his mind and would not be swayed. In refusing her question, he had simply fuelled her burning need for answers. But Draco was right. The past lay firmly in the past and dredging it up would not change anything. It would only bring back those painful memories. She may want to know his reasons for leaving, but she certainly didn't need to. Hermione bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself quiet, and contemplated the bitterness in Draco's tone instead. They walked through the children's park, which was rather eerie in the night.

'I didn't come back here expecting things to go back to the way they were. But to tell you the truth I didn't expect that so much would've changed,' he admitted.

'Why did you come back?'

That familiar sardonic grin reappeared. 'They say that there's no place like home, right?'

Hermione wrinkled her nose at him, though he probably couldn't see her in the dark, the Wizard of Oz reference had to be a coincidence.

'You know, Potter was the one who put me up to this; demanded I talk to you. And I'm glad I did.'

'You did what Harry told you to?'

'Gods, no. He wanted me to explain everything to you, and I haven't done that.'

Hermione had to laugh at his stubbornness. She supposed it was because Draco reminded her of herself in that sense. The comfortable silence fell again between them. It was an unusually still night, with the many trees littering the park, casting shadows but standing motionless.

"I'm not stupid enough to think that we'll ever be friends, Hermione,' Draco mumbled after a while. 'But I'd like to know that you didn't hate me anymore for what I put you through.'

'I never hated you, Draco,' Hermione shook her head, feeling rather sad, 'I never understood why you did it, but I never hated you for doing it.'

Draco stopped suddenly. She thought he was going to say something in reply but instead he shoved her behind him, drawing out his wand. She shoved him back to indicate what she thought of his actions, but nonetheless stayed behind him, sensing his tension. In the tranquil darkness it should have been easy to spot unwanted company, but they were both surprised when a rock was flung from the shadows, hitting Draco on his temple. Hermione yelled as he crumpled to the ground. She would have reached down to check on him, but a hand reached out and grasped her by her forearm. Another came over her mouth and Hermione was pulled up against a hard body and dragged away from Draco's unmoving form. She struggled to reach for her wand but was entangled within Draco's cloak. It was dark and she could no longer see Draco. Though she knew it would be futile, Hermione tried to call out. She couldn't manage a sound, as her jaw was effectively clamped shut. She kicked and elbowed as hard as she could but it seemed to have no effect on her assailant. A gloved hand was pulling fruitlessly at her fingers. A chilling sensation spread through Hermione as she remembered the ring around her neck.

Hermione stopped kicking. She collapsed in her attacker's arms. Unprepared for her sudden dead weight, his grip loosened. She stood up once more and threw her head back. It connected with a painful thud and she heard a hiss of pain. Hermione was just about to step away when she was roughly shoved to the ground. She saw a flash of blond and realised that Draco had joined the foray. Her heart thumped in relief that he was alright.

Hermione's head was already pounding and she didn't realise she had groaned out loud until Draco turned to look at her. In that moment of distraction, Hermione's masked attacker took the opportunity to slam his fist across Draco's jaw, before running away. Thrown to the ground by the force of the punch, Draco stood up to see his opponent sprinting off. He wanted to go after him but Hermione was groaning on the grass and he knew she would need attention.

Draco strode forward to where Hermione sat. He didn't stop to chat, simply picked her up and held her close to his chest. He walked quickly and steadily as if Hermione wasn't a burden at all and soon they were back at her flat. Draco wouldn't let her down to open the door. He whispered unintelligibly and the door opened on its own accord. Hermione's head was spinning too much for her to contemplate this.

Kicking the door shut, Draco carried her into the living room. He used one foot to clear the mess before setting her down on the couch. She gave a grunt of thanks and closed her eyes against the pain in her head. Settling next to her, Draco gently laid a hand on her forehead and placed his other hand on the back of her skull. Hermione would have frowned but that made her head ache more, so she gave over to his touch. A soothing heat began to emanate from Draco's hands and the pounding in her head began to recede. She opened her eyes to see him staring down at her.

'Thank you.' Her voice sounded croaky and laced with sleep. 'What was that?'

Draco gently pulled his hands away from her and sat back against the couch. 'Reiki: The ancient art of healing. I learnt it when I was in India,' he said, tersely. Draco stood up suddenly, looking very angry.

'I can't believe I let this happen to you. I was right there and I let that bastard maul you.'

'Let him?' Hermione was incredulous. 'Draco, you were knocked out. Besides, it all happened in a matter of seconds. There was nothing you could've done.'

He growled as he looked down at her, then grasped her chin and turned it sideways so her cheek faced him.

'Look what that piece of filth did to you.'

'What do you mean?'

'He hit you.'

'No he didn't,' Hermione frowned as she recalled her assailant's grip, 'He grabbed me… but he never really tried to hurt me.' This night was becoming perplexing beyond belief. There were burglars who didn't steal things, and attackers who didn't attack. Feeling puzzled, Hermione stood up and looked at herself in the mirror above her mantelpiece. She stared at the pale woman that looked back at her, a mottled-purple bruise colouring her cheek. It looked a thousand fold worse than it felt. For the first time since she had returned to her flat, Hermione felt laughter bubbling up within her.

'He didn't do that, Draco,' she chuckled as she sat back down. 'You did.'

'What?' Draco glared at her angrily.

'You must have taken a swipe at me as you came flying to my rescue. Don't worry about it,' she said; then pointed at that mark that was blooming across his jaw, 'You've got a work of beauty of your own. Listen, if I heal yours will you return the favour?'

It seemed Draco had gone back to being subdued and he simply nodded. Hermione flicked her wand over his jaw, saying the spell quickly and Draco did the same for her. His hand followed to trace the wand's movement across her cheek.

'I'm sorry, Hermione.'

'Don't be.' She tried to ignore the sensation she felt at his caress. 'You got him off me in the end, and that's all that matters.' Hermione looked straight into his eyes, 'Thanks for being there for me, Draco.'

His jaw tightened and Hermione discerned a flash of pain and self-loathing in his eyes before he turned away from her. Despite the two cloaks she wore, Hermione unexpectedly felt cold.

'It's late. I better go,' Draco mumbled, already heading for the door.

Hermione stared around at her living room. It was still a complete mess. She still had to clean up her entire house before she could even contemplate going to bed… alone. She swallowed against a wave of self-pity.

'Draco, wait.' It came out as a sad little whisper but he turned back nonetheless. 'Don't go…not yet.'

* * *

**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to J.K. Rowling (thank goodness she's kind enough to let us amuse ourselves by writing fanfics)

**A/N:** Yay… I updated… I know a lot of you (make that all of you readers) are shaking your head at me, but yay nonetheless. I hope you like this chappie. I've done an outline for the sequencing of this chapter but it all just got longer than I expected so the sequence has been split into two chapters (in case any of you are gnashing your teeth at the "cliff-hanger"). So stay tuned for more H/D (and co) action. A lot of my reviewers have asked for more H/D and I really hope I've gone someway to satisfy this craving. Keep in mind that D did just randomly disappear AND the fact that Hermione has a fiancé, so I couldn't have her simply running back to D. Anyway, enough of my dithering. Enjoy, be merry and don't feel shy about reviewing (wink wink) I thrive on constructive criticism. hObYtLaH ;0)


	7. A Past Revealed

**A Past Revealed**

_'Draco, wait.' It came out as a sad little whisper but he turned back nonetheless. 'Don't go…Not yet.'_

Draco watched her with a narrowed gaze. Hermione refused to crumble under his scrutiny.

'Look if it was anyone else I would ask the same thing. I'm not trying to get friendly. I just don't want to be alone tonight,' she said truthfully.

All Hermione could do was watch as Draco seemed to struggle to come to a decision. When she finally got sick of his silent staring, she turned back to the couch. Pulling her knees up to curl onto the sofa, she closed her eyes and waited.

The door closed with a quick thud. Hermione sighed. She supposed she really did need to clean the mess up and just go to bed.

'So did you want a tea… or something?'

Hermione jolted as she turned to see Draco standing behind the couch looking decidedly uncomfortable. She couldn't help feeling relieved that he hadn't left. Nevertheless, the fact that she had _asked_ Draco to stay, still made her feel slightly awkward.

'Um…A tea would be great,' she mumbled as she stood up and headed towards the kitchen, 'you know what, take a seat and I'll make it up. Just tea for you, as well?'

Draco cocked his eyebrow at her. 'I can make tea, Hermione. Besides you should probably sit down. You look exhausted.'

Hermione made the tea anyway. She ignored Draco's knowing shake-of-the-head, as they both sat on the couch. She handed the cup and saucer to him before settling back with her own. The milky warmth went some way to soothe her so she took a large sip before replacing it. As her cup clattered back onto the saucer, Hermione tried to ignore the imaginary crickets chirping in the background.

'Err…Is the tea okay?' she finally asked, to alleviate the awkward silence.

'Fine,' he said, even though he had not even taken a sip. He put the cup down on the coffee table before them. 'You should probably get to sleep.'

Hermione sighed inwardly. The whole point of her asking Draco to stay was so she wouldn't have to lie on her bed trying to force herself to sleep.

'Tell me what you did when you left, Draco. What did you do besides learning Reiki in India,' Hermione knew she wasn't being very subtle, but this new dimension of Draco intrigued her. Plus if she got Draco talking maybe he'd forget about trying to get her into bed. _'Oops, bad pun,'_ she admonished herself, _'don't think about that_.'

He wouldn't look at her. 'I really think I should just go–'

'What are you so afraid to tell me?'

Draco glared at her. 'There are just some things that I would rather forget, Hermione. And the past ten years are right up there on my top-ten list.'

'But it can't have all been bad, right? The people you met, the things you did: it can't have been terrible or you would have returned sooner…right?' She knew she was pushing him but her curiosity scratched at her like a playful kitten. She was determined to secure some pieces of this puzzle.

Draco turned from her. He picked up his teacup once more and drained it with a long swallow. But there was no avoiding the determination in Hermione's eyes. 'You want to hear the sordid tale? Fine, what do you want to know?' His voice was harsh and succinct.

Hermione sat back against the couch. She had to admit that she was surprised by Draco's sudden agreement. Hermione gathered from his gruffness that this might not be something she wanted to hear. It was nonetheless something she believed she needed to hear. 'Just start at the beginning.'

'After I left y-…Hogwarts, I drifted for a while. I knew I had to leave but hadn't made any plans for myself,' Draco paused and Hermione gave him a nod of encouragement. 'Eventually I realized that if I was going to wander about, I might as well do it in a different country. So I traveled. I started off in Europe; was hardly awestruck by the sights there. I drifted some more and soon came to the spectacular conclusion that meandering aimlessly was the same, regardless of where you were in the world. I moved up to the colder regions and eventually I got to Russia.'

'Which is where you began your mercenary career,' Hermione whispered. Her cup trembled in her hand so she quickly placed it on the table next to Draco's.

Draco's expression tightened with anger. 'You were the one who wanted to hear this, Hermione. Don't presume to judge me when you know nothing about the situation I was in. I did what I had to do to survive.'

'I'm trying hard _not_ to presume, Draco. But presumptions are hard to avoid when information is withheld,' Hermione snapped back, 'so give me the situation, Draco. Explain to me how the boy I once knew became a hired killer.'

The two glared at each other for a long while. Hermione knew she should be the one to back down since Draco was only staying at her request. But this fragment of Draco's past was beyond even her comprehension. It was clear from Draco's eyes that he had a tale to tell. Whether he would actually speak of it was another matter.

'I met someone when I was in Russia,' he began again, in a distant voice.

Hermione was shocked by the cold sensation she felt at that small remark. She clenched her jaw against the asinine hurt she felt, hoping he would continue.

'I met Ruska on my first day in Moscow. He was just a beggar boy who chose the wrong pocket to pick. He was just an innocent, Hermione.'

'This boy was a muggle, wasn't he?'

If Draco heard Hermione's surprised whisper, he didn't acknowledge it. 'You can never truly understand abject poverty until you witness it first hand. When I caught Ruska out thieving, but didn't report him, he took to following me. He became my tiny chattering shadow as I wandered, and he showed a slice of the impoverished world that I had previously scorned and ridiculed. When I looked at Ruska, I didn't see muggle or wizard. All I saw was a strength and cunning that was severely misplaced in a seven-year-old. One night I was trailed and attacked. A pack of scum-muggles that called themselves soldiers. They were hungry for a fight and decided that a lone foreigner would make a prime target. They caught me by surprise and took great pleasure in pounding at me, since I had no real idea of how to physically defend myself. I absorbed my pain; used my magic in fury and I knew I was aiming to kill.'

Draco faltered. He turned from Hermione, his fists clenched tightly by his side. She could feel Draco's pain emanating. Hermione reached out and laid a gentle hand on his arm. Draco drew a shuddering breath before he continued. His voice was shaky with unshed tears.

'Ruska saw what was happening and he thought to help me. I had no idea he was there, Hermione, and he had no idea that he was in the way. I killed him…' He gave a harsh laugh, 'I had left my entire world behind to escape murder. On that night I saw that there was no running away. Murder was in me. It was in my blood.' When Draco finally turned back to face Hermione, his eyes were cold disks of grey. 'When Ruska fell, the soldiers panicked and I was shot down. I let myself go to the pain because all I could think about was Ruska's lifeless body. I didn't want to have to live with what I had done. When I woke up I found that I had been taken in by a group called the Elite. They were a collective which claimed to be working against the corrupt government. In reality they were little more than an army of mercenaries and spies. They saved my life, so I gave them my body. What else was I to do with myself? They trained me as one of their own and put me to work at the only thing I seemed to be good at. With every new mission I was sent further and wider. I managed to pick up new and interesting skills as I went. Reiki in India, Capoeira in Brazil, drowning my sorrows in Australia. I also managed to pick up a number of contacts, both muggle and wizard, who kept me informed. It was this information that led me to those Auror missions I meddled in.'

Though his voice had returned to its usual sarcastic drawl, Hermione could tell it was a façade. She could hardly pretend to ignore the anguish and self-loathing she had heard in his voice, as he spoke of murder. Hermione slipped her hand over Draco's and held it tightly. 'You're not a killer, Draco. No matter what you and those so-called Elite have managed to convince yourself. It is not the only thing you're good at and it's not in your blood to be a murderer.'

Draco scoffed quietly. He held his hand slack in Hermione's grip until she released it. He'd lived with this for eight years now, and it would take more than her sympathetic whispers to convince him.

'So why did you come back then? If you'd convinced yourself that you were such a born killer, why return now? Back for _good_, isn't that what your note said?' Hermione spoke levelly as she drew her hand back. It was lengthy training that enabled her to keep the hurt and anger from her voice.

'I was left for dead in Tibet.'

Hermione was stunned. This was hardly the response she had expected.

'Hardly an unusual story: The mission went wrong and my team left me to protect themselves. I found myself in Tibet in the hands of the wizard monks. I'm sure you understand the monks' love for imparting wisdom,' Draco muttered dryly. 'Only I wasn't as willing to listen. They managed to drive home the errors of my ways by showing me the pathways of my future. They showed me that I had a purpose left to fulfill. With them, I was able to hone my training and improve my magical skills beyond the necessity of wand waving.'

Something clicked in Hermione's mind at those words: a prospect that distracted her momentarily.

'I wasn't imagining things, then. You really can channel magic through your bare hands?' Hermione quizzed, 'That's amazing, Draco. Could you show me how to do it?'

She thought she saw a flicker of a smile on his face. 'You haven't changed, Hermione. If there's anything out there to be learnt, you'll be first in line,' Draco paused, 'It's getting late. You need to get some rest.'

Hermione wanted to protest but couldn't speak as Draco reached towards her. He traced his fingers over her eyes with the lightest touch. Hermione drifted into sleep, dreaming of Draco as a lonely, fearful, street urchin…

* * *

It was still dark when Hermione began to stir. At first she felt disorientated by the alien shadows of her surroundings. But she then realized that she was lying on the couch. She still felt drained, far too tired to bother going to her bed. Besides, the warmth emanating from the body beside her was gently lulling her back to sleep…

When Hermione next awoke it was because of the bright sunlight piercing her eyes. She tried to turn over, but found herself landing painfully on the floor. Jolted firmly awake now by the pain of her backside, Hermione proceeded to untangle herself from the throw that Draco had presumably covered her with. She looked around her flat to see that it was all once again meticulously clean. As Hermione stood up she didn't bother to call out for Draco. It seemed clear that Draco had kindly restored her home before showing himself out. He would have wanted to avoid any more questions from her.

'Oh well. No rest for the minister,' Hermione told herself as she headed for the shower. There was not much point in loitering around the house so she thought it best to head into the office. Hopefully she'd get _something_ done there.

Out of the shower, Hermione carefully checked her reflection for bruises. She didn't want any awkward questions at the office, or to start a media frenzy. Satisfied, Hermione changed into her dark blue work robes. Without further primping, she efficiently conjured a fire and floored to the office. She had barely come out of her office fireplace when the door opened and Harry walked in.

'I knew you wouldn't be able to stay away from the office,' he said with mock scorn.

'You're here too, you filthy hypocrite,' Hermione returned.

Harry chuckled, 'Glad to see you've recovered from your ordeal with your sharp tongue intact.'

'What are you talking about?'

'I know what happened last night, Hermione. Draco reported your attack.'

'Well, then Draco exaggerated. It was hardly an attack, Harry. I mean, the guy didn't even try to hex me. Clearly it was just some random muggle criminal.'

'Oh, so I suppose it was just a coincidence that on the same night your house is broken into, you get attacked?'

Hermione scowled at him. She couldn't believe that Draco had gone running to Harry. As Head Auror, he had more than enough to think about, let alone the added worry of a friend's security.

'As it is, I've decided to assign Draco as your personal bodyguard.'

'What!' Hermione was outraged. Bugger feeling sorry for overloading Harry. This time he'd gone too far. 'I'm not a child Harry. I can look after myself. I don't need a bodyguard.'

'_You_ may not need one, Hermione. But it seems to me that the Minister of Magic does. I just don't want you to be at risk again. Anything could have happened to you last night. Come on Hermione; think about what we lowly minions would do without you.'

'And it has to be Draco?'

'You know we're short staffed, or I'd give you an entourage. But I know that Malfoy is the only one capable of doing _anything_ to keep you from harm.'

'I won't let anyone hurt you Herm-… Minister.'

They turned at the voice at the door. Neither Harry nor Hermione had noticed that Draco had entered the room. Hermione stared at Draco trying to discern his thoughts. As Draco and Hermione's respectively determined gazes locked, Harry wisely kept silent. While there had always been tension between Draco and Hermione, now (although Harry would rather suffer through a year of palm reading with old Trelawney than speak of it to Hermione) there was an added element of remnant attraction.

'Fine. We'll do it your way.' Hermione finally spoke, 'But I'm calling the shots and if I believe your guarding to be redundant you will return to your previous Auror position.'

**Disclaimer:** These characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

**A/N:** Apologies for the lengthy wait before updating. I have been spiritually and physically away. I hope y'all like the chapter and don't hate me for not making Hermione jump Draco's bones. I'm giving her some credit to think that she wouldn't be stupid enough to run back to a man who had caused her so much (as of yet unexplained) pain. Plus she is ENGAGED to Greg… More of him to come, don't worry. HoBytLAh ;0)


	8. A Truth Revealed

_**A Truth Revealed**_

'As you all know, the past year has been a rather productive year for the Ministry. As always, I'm seeking to improve on that. Gathering all the Division Heads for a meeting is a complex task in itself. So now that we're all finally here together, I want Division overviews and all the propositions you can throw at me.'

Hermione looked up at the Division Heads seated around the oval meeting table before her. This meeting was not going well. She had to stifle a sigh as she watched fully grown witches and wizards squirming in their seats, heads bowed down with the occasional nervous glance over Hermione's shoulder. Hermione's gaze turned to Harry whose face had turned an alarming shade of burgundy as he tried to hold back his laughter. She gave him a vicious glare before pushing her chair back from the table.

The chair's wheels may have accidentally-on-purpose rolled over Draco Malfoy's foot, since he was standing close behind Hermione's seat. However, when she turned to him his face showed not even the slightest flicker of pain. Looking up at Draco, Hermione could see why her Division Heads - some of the greatest witches and wizards in Britain - were feeling apprehensive. Malfoy stood just behind Hermione's right shoulder with his arms crossed in front of his chest, and a nonchalant sneer on his face as he eyeballed each and every one of the Heads at the table. He paused in his menacing perusal and leaned in closer to Hermione when she indicated she wished to speak to him.

'Stop acting so surly and intimidating my Division Heads, Malfoy, or I'll send you to a far-away corner and you can stand there looking at the wall,' she whispered sternly.

'I'm a bit old for that, don't you think, Minister? However, a good spanking would get your point well and truly across.' Draco replied quietly with a deadpan expression.

Hermione scowled at him, then with a satisfied smile she pulled her chair back to the table, once again rolling over his foot.

'Alright, ladies and gentlemen, since we don't seem to be getting anywhere with this meeting how about I put your minds at ease with an introduction. You might not all know him, but this is Draco Malfoy of the Auror Division.' Hermione said with a careless wave in Draco's direction, 'He's going to be hovering around me for a little while. His job is to stand there and look pretty, so if we could all just do our best to ignore him and get on with this meeting I would be _very_ grateful.'

Ron, who had just happened to take a sip of water, sputtered it out in a guffaw. Beside him, Harry hid his laughter behind a hand as he patted his friend on the back. With an irritated flick of her wand, Hermione siphoned the water off the table.

'Thanks for volunteering, Ron. Let's hear how the International Games and Sport Office has been doing.'

Ron stood up quickly with a flaming magenta face, shuffled his parchment and began with a mumble, 'Uh…Well, not too much to report on my side. Everything for the World Cup is on track. Location and stadium are set. It's now just a matter of which teams are going to be there. Um… The Division's been trying to open up discussions between schools to organise inter-school quidditch matches. It's a chance to get the students to interact and engage…without putting them in life-threatening situations.' He said this with a meaningful glance at Harry. 'And…er… that's going well. I've scheduled a meeting with Dumbledore and we'll go fom there. Our main problem right now is actually the upcoming Olympics: which is the muggle's major sporting event. They haven't seemed to notice the number of "really good athletes" who just appear from nowhere yet. But it'll only be a matter of time before they start to suspect more than performance-enhancing drugs. So the Division's been working on a way to lure those witches and wizards who are falsely entering the Olympics for the glory and honour away. And we decided that the best way to do this would be to hold our own multi-sporting event.'

'Great. Get your plans written up and have them sent to me A.S.A.P.' Hermione said with a nod at Ron, who gratefully sat back into his chair. 'Okay let's move right up to our Improper Use of Magic Office. Susan, I believe you have a proposition to share with us.'

Susan Bones gave Hermione a small smile and stood up with her scroll of parchment.

'Our proposition today has a focus on the detection of use of magic by under-aged witches and wizards. As many of us know – some of us at first hand –' This was followed by yet another pointed look at Harry Potter, 'the detection of under-age use has too long been far too general. We've have always only been able to detect under-age use in witches and wizards living among muggles, leaving the improper use of magic by those living in the wizarding world to be punished by parents. However, magic sightings over the nation are continually on the increase, and our magic-reversal squad are getting hard-pressed to be in three places at once. Studies have shown that more than eighty percent of these cases have been improper use of magic by the under-age. These kids just don't seem to realise the consequences of their actions. My team have been working for a few months now to combat the increasing number of improper use, and we believe we've come up with a revolutionary and effective plan.' Susan paused and reached into her robe to pull out her wand. She held it nimbly in her fingers in front of her for everyone to see. 'Every wand ever made is uniquely and subtly different, very much like the human fingerprint. And just like the fingerprint, I believe we can use the differences in wands to help with identification. If each wand is tagged with an identity spell, we will be able to monitor usage and thus better control under-age use. Since it is mostly students, who feel the inclination to experiment during the holidays, I would like to propose a trial tagging for the students at Hogwarts. Because of the nature of the identity spell, we would not only be able to monitor any inappropriate use, but also detect different users of the wand to further identify perpetrator of the illegal spells.'

To Susan's right, a blond dreadlocked wizard began to shake his head. 'Wand tagging is a complete invasion of privacy,' Jamie Newton, Head of the Environmental Division, boomed in his deep voice. 'Besides, if you're tagging these kids, won't your detection system be going crazy 24/7? I mean, they are _students _after all. And students need to do magic in order to learn, right?'

'Thus the spell would only be activated at certain times: holidays, weekend trips, etc. And the tagging would not be an invasion of privacy since we aren't planning to monitor the children themselves but simply watch over the use of magic to ensure that the students aren't performing magic beyond the safety of their schooling environment. I'm certainly not suggesting this to get some sort of voyeuristic kick out of watching some spotty teen trying to perform an anti-acne spell.' Susan's voice was calm but everyone could see the passion she had for this project in her sparking eyes.

'Alright, thank you, Susan…and Jamie. I, like Susan, have looked over the statistics and I agree that this is a problem that needs to be tackled. However, I think that you're going to be hard pressed to get Dumbledore to agree to your tagging his students.' Hermione rationalised.

'I understand that Minister, and for that reason I've arranged a meeting for you and Professor Dumbledore to discuss the merits of this project.'

'Oh really?'

'And Harry, who's agreed to be our… "Poster Boy" for wand tagging.'

'Oh really?' Hermione turned to look at Harry archly, 'Spreading ourselves around aren't we?'

'Anything for a good cause.' Harry replied with a wink.

Rolling her eyes, Hermione turned back to Susan.

'Susan, this project has been your baby for the last few months now, why on earth wouldn't you want to push this yourself?'

'Because you know how to make Dumbledore listen to you.'

Hermione sighed and then nodded, before turning to Ron and Harry. 'Looks like the Ministry's going back to Hogwarts.' After making a quick note to herself, Hermione looked up once more. 'Okay, let's move right along. Jamie, give us the latest…'

* * *

When Hermione was back in her office, she groaned as she stretched out her muscles. She remembered now why those meetings only took place every so often. Although they gave everyone insight into the different occurrences around the Ministry and an opportunity to discuss these occurrences, they were long, convoluted and very tiring. Hermione turned to the silent shadow behind her.

'So Draco, did you enjoy your first Division meeting?' she asked as she rolled up some pieces of parchment she wanted to take home and peruse.

'Yeah, so many of my childhood fantasies came to life in that one meeting.' Draco responded dryly, 'How can I ever thank you for that?'

'Hey! I told you that I didn't need a body guard. Ninety percent of the time my body is in a meeting, so if you're going to insist on guarding my body, you're going to have to enjoy even more of those fun-filled meetings.' Hermione laughed at him, while closing up her briefcase.

'What? You mean you don't spend most of your time officiating nude beaches? I could have sworn that was a clause in my contract.'

Hermione rolled her eyes at Draco but he didn't see her because he was busy lighting her fire.

'That's it, then. I'm off home. I guess I'll see you tomorrow.' She told him politely.

Draco ignored her and reached into the pot on her mantelpiece and threw the powder at the fire as he said Hermione's address. Hermione stared in shock at the spinning figure in the green fire. What in the name of Holy Merlin, was Draco thinking to simply go to her place like that! Clutching her briefcase tightly, she grabbed her own handful of floo powder and followed Draco home. She barely waited till she was out of the fireplace to start her tirade of indignation.

'What do you think you're doing, just flooing into my place like that? Univited, I might add. When I say I'm off home, it means _I'm _off to _my_ home and _you're _off to your own.'

'Would you calm down?' Draco muttered as he took her briefcase from her to set it on the floor. He didn't want her getting any ideas about throwing it at him in anger. 'You keep forgetting the fact that I'm your bodyguard, Minister. Therefore, I have to ensure the safety of your intended locations before you get there.'

'Where's the logic in that? What if, when you invited yourself over to my place, I decided to stay at the office? Then some bloody axe-man came in and chopped me into tiny bits of stir-fry, what then? You wouldn't have been around to perform your bodyguarding duties eh?'

'I was fairly certain that when you knew I was going to your place you wouldn't want to linger behind for too long.' Draco grinned.

Hermione was seriously considering turning him into a toad. She was the Minister of Magic. She was pretty certain she could get away with it.

'I forgot to ask you last time, whether anything was missing after the break in.' Draco's voice cut into her vengeful thoughts.

'Well that's the thing, Draco, my flat was turned inside out but nothing was missing.' Hermione muttered, 'Adds another point to my random break-in theory.'

'You're sure? Did you check all your valuables? Jewellery?'

Hermione frowned at him suspiciously, thinking about the ring that was nestled at her chest, 'It's all there. I don't own that many valuables that I need an inventory.' She knew that there was really only one piece of jewellery he was concerned about. But unless Draco openly asked for the return of his ring, she wouldn't bring it up. For some inexplicable reason Hermione felt the compulsion to keep the ring close to her.

Draco simply nodded and continued his inspection. Hermione followed him, suppressing an urge to stamp her foot in protest.

'If you think I'm paying you overtime for this you're deluding yourself!' she called after him, 'You can go home now. I can ma-'

The doorbell rang. Hermione tensed as she watched Draco stride towards the door.

'Don't you dare answer my door for me!'

Draco opened the door. Hermione stormed up behind him, deciding that Draco would look fabulous as a toad.

'Um… Is Hermione in?'

When she reached the door, Hermione tried to shove Draco aside but he didn't move. She looked out to see her fiancé standing awkwardly on her doorstep, holding a rather wilted looking bunch of gladioli.

'Greg… What are you doing here? I thought you were busy with your new project.'

'I…uh… wanted to see you, Herm. Haven't seen you since Harry and Ginny's wedding.' Greg mumbled in way of explanation, before turning to Draco, 'Have we met before?'

Draco extended his hand, 'Draco Malfoy. We met at Harry and Ginny's reception.'

'Oh yeah. I remember. It's nice to meet you again.' Greg said, glancing from Hermione to Draco.

'I work with Hermione.' Draco explained offhandedly, 'Well, I guess I better leave you to it.' He turned back to Hermione, 'I'll be back tomorrow to install the security measures I was telling you about. See you tomorrow, Granger. Good to meet you again, Greg.' With that, Draco slipped out of the doorway and left Hermione's flat.

Watching him leave, Hermione stepped back to let Greg in. Draco was not two houses away when he turned back to Hermione, gave her a wink and dissapparated. She quickly slammed the door shut, hoping her fiancé hadn't noticed Draco's sudden disappearance. When she turned, Greg had already taken off his light coat and was holding out his bunch of sad-looking flowers. As Hermione took them from him, she realised that she was still in her work robes. Although Greg hadn't said anything, she knew her attire must look somewhat strange. She hastily scuttled towards the kitchen.

'I'll just put this in some water and I'll change out of my work clothes, hey? Go ahead and take a seat in the living room.' She called out as she went.

With a quick check to ensure that Greg wasn't following behind her, Hermione summoned up her crystal vase and quickly filled it with water before popping into her room to change. She walked into the living room holding her vase of flowers and set them down at the coffee table. She smiled at Greg, who sat on the edge of her couch, but saw that he was somewhat distracted.

'You okay, Greg?'

'You should watch out for him'

Hermione frowned in surprise at Greg's unexpected words, 'Draco? He's just a part of the security division at work.'

Greg looked up at her with a strange look in his eyes, 'He wants you, Hermione. And he seems like the kind of guy who will go to any length to get what he wants.'

'You came to this amazing conclusion after speaking to him for thirty seconds?' she laughed incredulously, 'Besides, you seemed to like him when you met him at the reception.'

'I know what I know, Hermione. I'm a guy… I can just tell, alright. I just want you to be careful around him.'

Hermione scoffed, 'Oh come on, Greg. Please don't tell me you're letting your testosterone shrink your brain. Even if Draco was lusting after me, I am a big girl and I can look after myself.'

Greg grinned at her sheepishly, then frowned once more, 'Wait…He said something about security measures. What was he talking about? Why would you need extra security?'

Hermione sat down beside Greg, guilt tingling at her stomach as she realised that she hadn't yet told him about the break-in. She hadn't yet told Greg about quite a few important things. 'Um… well…My flat was broken into a few days ago. Nothing was taken, but Draco offered to give me a hand with all my security stuff.'

'Why didn't you tell me?' He looked almost outraged, 'I could've been here for you. Are you alright? I mean-'

'Greg, don't. I'm fine. I didn't call you because I didn't want you to worry, okay.' She said as she placed her hand in his, 'I haven't seen you in so long and I don't want to spoil this visit talking about the break-in. Just let it rest.'

He sighed before entwining his fingers with hers and leaning over to drop a kiss on her forehead. That shock of guilt gnawed at Hermione again. It was definitely time to tell Greg that she was a witch. Way past the time, in fact. She couldn't believe she had let it get this far, that she had gotten engaged to a man who didn't even know the truth about her. It was definitely time to tell Greg the truth.

'I'm…I'm going to make us some tea and uh…No, no you stay here…there's something I need to tell you.' Hermione mumbled, pushing herself off the couch. As she entered the kitchen, Hermione hit the heel of her hand against her forehead several times. This seemed to help her prepare herself for the task ahead. She absentmindedly conjured up some tea and marched out determinedly, holding the two teacups in front of her.

'That was quick.' Greg said lightly.

Hermione swore silently, 'I hope I didn't forget to put the tea bags in.'

She set the cups down on the coffee table and sat back down beside Greg. Without even giving him a chance to reach for his tea Hermione began, 'You know how I told you that I was a government office worker?'

'Yes,' Greg smiled, 'I've always had a secret fantasy of you using that to hide your espionage career. Lovely images of you running around in tight clothing, high heels and very fashionable wigs… a la Jennifer Garner.'

'Uh huh,' Hermione couldn't help but laugh at his little ramble.

Greg grinned sheepishly, 'Sorry, I forgot you didn't have a tv.'

'Right, well…The thing is: I'm not _just_ a government office worker…and no espionage career. I'm actually a minister. In fact, I'm _the _Minister…of Magic. I'm a witch, Greg.'

Greg's reaction flew in the face of convention. There were no hysterical giggles, no scoffing, no frantic run out of the flat. He simply sat there staring at her searchingly.

'And you're telling me this now?' he said softly.

Hermione had no idea to respond to Greg's reaction. She had prepared herself for hysterics and scoffs but this calm, almost sad acceptance threw her. It made her want to storm around in anger.

'Well, it's not exactly first date material, is it?' she retorted defensively, as she stood up with Greg following suit, 'Hey, by the way, I'm a witch. But bad luck, because I still have to pay normal adult movie ticket prices.'

'Okay, not first date material, but what about after six months of dating? Or even when I proposed? You couldn't tell me then?' Greg didn't raise his voice but his words were hardened with an anger that left Hermione feeling cold. She fell silent and looked away.

When she finally spoke again her voice was quiet and trembled with emotion. 'I was scared Greg. I was scared that when you found out, you would leave me. And I don't want to go through that again.' Hermione covered her mouth when she realised what she had unconsciously said.

'You didn't even give me a chance not to let you down. You didn't trust me enough to tell me. How the hell can you marry someone you don't even trust?' Greg shook his head in bewilderment and strode out of the room without waiting for a response.

Hermione fell back against her couch feeling drained. She knew she hadn't handled that well and that she should probably go after Greg and explain but his words had really struck her. She knew she was far too emotionally scrambled to do anything now.

'I came here today for a reason, Hermione.'

She turned in surprise to see that Greg had returned. His golden brown hair was dishevelled from his furrowing hands and he looked uncertain.

'I came because I wanted us to set a date. I even finally went out and got you a ring.' He whispered as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a box. Greg dropped the blue velvet box into Hermione's lap. 'I don't want to change anything, Hermione. I don't want _us _to change, but I think that I need some time to think about this.' He leaned down and gently pressed a kiss on her forehead, then walked out of the room once more.

When Hermione heard her front door click shut, she picked up the box in her lap and opened it. It was a simple gold band inset with a swirl of diamonds. It was beautiful. She pulled the ring from its setting and slipped it onto her wedding finger. It was then that the tears Hermione seemed to be holding back burst forth freely. Even through her tear-blurred vision she could see that the ring didn't fit her finger…

**A/N:** Sorry it took so long to update guys. I sort of lost track of the weeks with exams and all. I sincerely hope y'all enjoy this chappie and continue with my story. Thank you for all of you who have reviewed. It's great to receive constructive criticism and comments…_HobYtLaH_


	9. Painting the Town Red

_**Painting The Town Red**_

Hermione knew she couldn't very well stand by her door all night weeping. It certainly wasn't making her feel any better about all that had happened. And the fact that she had no one but herself to blame for Greg's outburst made her crying seem all the more pointless. Hermione pressed her palms into her eyes to stem her tears and shook her head roughly. Pushing away from the door, she made her way to her bedroom. Woodenly, she collected her nightgown from the closet and strode into the bathroom.

Originally, Hermione had planned a quick shower before going straight to bed for what promised to be a fitful and troubled night sleep. However, when the candles flickered on as she entered, Hermione unconsciously moved towards her bath. She had pulled out her wand and conjured steaming hot, bubbly water before she even realised what she was doing. Hermione shook her head at herself, then placed her nightgown on the bench beside the sink.

Her hands moved mechanically as she removed her clothes. Hermione didn't stop to take Greg's ring off. It simply slipped off on its own accord, landing on the floor with a slight metallic ping. She made no move to pick it up. As she continued to pull her shirt over her head, her fingers caught on the chain she had taken to wearing under her clothes. After untangling herself, Hermione frowned at the ring hanging at the end of the necklace: Draco's ring.

She slipped the chain over her head and bent down to retrieve Greg's ring. Undoing the clasp, she slid the ring onto the necklace. With a hushed clink, the two bands met in the middle of the chain. Hermione was just about to slip the necklace back on, when she realised the erroneousness of wearing another man's ring alongside her fiancé's.

Why was she still wearing Draco's ring? At first, she had told herself it was simply to punish Draco. She would keep the one thing that Draco had left behind, his precious family heirloom, from him until he begged for its return. But Draco had shown no interest in the ring. So, Hermione had been forced to recognise that although she had forgotten about its existence, after wearing it for ten years she had come to think of the ring as her own.

Hermione sighed as she undid the clasp once more, and slid Draco's ring off. It was past time to return Draco's ring and she would only be keeping it out of pure selfishness. '_Tomorrow_,' she told herself firmly '_I'm going to give him back his ring, first thing tomorrow.'_

With that decided Hermione placed the chain and the two rings by her nightgown and finally stepped into her lavender scented bath. As she sank into the hot, silky luxury, Hermione tried to push all thoughts from her mind. But as usual, the harder she pushed them away, the more they pushed back. How was it possible that she had worn a ring for ten years straight without noticing it. And when she had finally taken note of it, how was it possible that a man's ring had fit her so perfectly…Hermione gave herself a short, vicious pinch on the thigh. She couldn't believe that after the argument she had just had with Greg, all she could think about was Draco Malfoy's ring.

She closed her eyes once again, and sank deeper into the bubbles. It was no use, however, and she sat straight back up again, turning to look at the ring on the bench beside her. Her questions and thoughts were gnawing at her and Hermione was suddenly convinced that if she just wore the ring one more time, she would understand more. Without giving herself a chance to think more on it, she reached out for the ring and slipped it on her wedding finger. It felt absolutely _right_. No explanation came to Hermione, but all her questions faded away. A sense of calm seemed to spread and all of her worries about Greg, work and Draco simply melted into the water. Hermione gave herself up to her relaxed state. She closed her eyes and simply fell into a peaceful sleep right there in the bath.

'HERMIONE!'

Hermione gasped at the shout that awoke her. She had no time to react as she was pulled roughly out of the bath. Still fighting a cloud of sleep, Hermione spluttered as she pushed her sudden visitor away.

Ron Weasley appeared slightly green as he looked down at her in worry.

'Ruddy hell Hermione, are you alright? I came by to see you and for a second I thought no one was home. So I thought I'd use the bathroom,' as he blathered, Ron maintained an uncomfortably tight grip on her arm, 'but then I saw you just lying in the bath, not moving at all. And I swear you scared ten years out of me. I thought you were dead. I swear, you looked dead. I'm sorry if I gave you a shock or whatever but – Merlin's beard, Hermione, you're naked!' She could have roasted a chicken on Ron's face as his cheeks flamed with embarrassment. Turning away quickly he blindly fumbled for a towel before handing it to her.

'Uh…How about I wait for you outside, hmm?' Ron stammered as he bounced off the bathroom walls, frantically trying to leave.

Half amused by Ron's reaction to her nudity, and half annoyed by her abrupt awakening, Hermione quickly pulled on the clothes that she had dropped onto the bathroom floor. She slipped the chain holding Greg's ring over her head and remembering Draco's ring on her finger and tugged it off. But it stuck.

The ring that had slid so perfectly onto her finger now stopped stubbornly at her knuckle. She tried twisting it as she pulled, but the band didn't budge beyond her knuckle. Tears of pain came to her eyes as she continued to pull, but to no avail. She shook her left hand in frustration, before she remembered that Ron was still waiting outside. It was stupid to make her friend wait because of a stuck ring. It was highly probable that her fingers had simply swollen in the bath, and in an hour or so, the ring would slide off with ease.

Hermione took a deep breath against the stinging of her knuckle and walked out towards her living room. When she saw that Ron wasn't there, she headed for the kitchen- she should have gone straight there.

'Hey.'

Ron turned around, a sandwich in his hand. He swallowed his mouthful before smiling at her. 'Hey. I hope you don't mind.' He said, waving the sandwich.

'Not at all. Anything wrong, or were you just dropping by?'

'Just dropping by. Oh hey, I found this by the door.' he pointed towards the small velvet ring box Hermione had dropped earlier, 'Slack-ass Greg finally bought you a ring, did he? Did you drop the box in all the excitement?'

All she could do was cringe at his words. Hermione rubbed at her forehead in frustration as she tried to explain the situation to Ron. While he was one of her best friends, and she though she loved him dearly, Ron was not Hermione's top choice for a sobsister. 'Um... well, yes. Greg did buy me a ring. He even –' Hermione's voice faltered and she hated herself for it. She really did not want to cry about it anymore. 'He even wanted to set a date for the wedding. Um…but –'

Ron placed his sandwich on the kitchen bench and gathered Hermione into his arms as she tried to hold back the tears.

'I told him. I finally told him…everything. That I'm a witch; that I'm the Minister of Magic and… we had a fight, and he left.'

Ron pulled her closer to him. He gave her back a comforting rub and placed a sweet kiss on the side of her temple. Hermione began to laugh through her sobs. This was getting a little too Mills and Boon for her. She pushed against his chest, still laughing. 'Don't think that just because you're comforting me, I'm going to sleep with you.' Hermione mocked, shaking her finger at him.

'Eew. Thank you, Hermione. Thank you for putting naked images of you- and me for that matter- in my brain. Eew!' Ron screeched, seeming genuinely disgusted. 'Jeez, Hermione. Yes, I am a red-blooded heterosexual male, irresistible to members of the opposite sex. However, that does not mean I cannot comfort a female friend without wanting to get into her pants.'

Now Hermione didn't know if she should be offended by his vehement protestation or amused at his reaction.

'I'm sorry. I'm sorry I questioned your motives for comforting me, Ron.' She apologised with a smile.

Ron sniffed as he picked up his sandwich. 'Well, I'm just going to pretend you never said a thing. And I shall return to the topic at hand to say good riddance to him. I mean, Greg Johnson was a likable enough fellow…for a muggle. He could hold his own at the bar and he had a great sense of humour: he told me a few rippers –' Ron smiled when he realised that he was rambling. 'That is to say, the guy was a bit of stuffed shirt: always in his laboratory trying to explain something simple in his fancy scientific way. If he didn't accept you for who you are, then you are definitely better off without him.'

Hermione had to smile. Ron was holding his own as a sobsister. Once he got to the point, he seemed to know exactly what she wanted to hear.

'And besides: there are plenty more pigs in the sty.'

'Huh? I believe the saying is: plenty more _fish_ in the sea.'

'Yeah, but fish are gross, with their googly eyes and their slimy bodies.'

'Pigs smell.'

Ron scoffed. 'There is nothing wrong with bit of odour. And besides pigs are loyal.'

Hermione rolled her eyes. This was more what she had been expecting from Ron. 'Okay, whatever. Besides, the point is irrelevant since Greg and I haven't actually broken up. He just wanted a bit of a sabbatical to think things through. And I don't really blame him. I should have told him the truth long ago.'

Polishing off his sandwich, Ron gave her a quick pat on the cheek. 'Don't blame yourself, Hermione. Wallowing in your sorrows is not going to get you anywhere. But drowning them might. Grab your cloak, we're going out.'

She flicked his hand away and cringed, 'I don't need to drown my sorrows. What I need to do is to think things through. If you want to go out and get sotted why don't you go and drag Harry out of bed?'

'Yeah, right. As if I could. Have you seen Ginny lately? She looks like she's about to explode. She won't let Harry out of her sight. And he won't leave her, cause he's worried she's going to pop and shower the entire city with babies.' He muttered grimly. 'Aw, come on Hermione, you're always thinking things through. But have you ever thought that maybe thinking things through too much is what got you into this mess in the first place?' When Hermione didn't respond, but merely stood there watching him beadily, Ron knew that her resistance was waning. 'We're going to paint the town red.'

With that he flicked his wand at towards her, turning her hair the same coppery red as his own. He gave her a wink. 'This way we won't be giving the media a field day with stories of a Minister gone wild.'

* * *

Hermione was crying with laughter. She was glad that Ron had convinced her to go out tonight to take her mind off Greg. Ignoring her protests, Ron had dragged her to the newest magically inhabited bar in London, _Wyrd_. They had squeezed through the crowd and found themselves a booth with squishy couches in a darkened corner, away from the dance floor. Hermione didn't really understand how people could come to places like this every single night. Maybe she was the only one who didn't find dark, smoke-filled places packed with people bopping to tedious pop music appealing. But hey, tonight was a night of experiences, and she was drowning the annoying music out with alcohol.

Hermione and Ron had each had two shots of firewhisky each, and Ron was literally under the table. Hermione was practically guffawing as she peeked under the table at him. 'Get up, Ron. There aren't any leprechauns under our table.'

'But I heard them. To be sure, to be sure…'

'Get up, you idiot. Merlin, you're nearly as bad as Ginny when it comes to getting drunk.'

'Hey! I'm not drunk. I am merely very relaxed.' The muffled protest wafted through the wood of the table. Hermione continued to laugh as she heard some scuffling followed by a rather loud and painful sounding thump against the table. Ron appeared, looking rather pained, on the couch opposite Hermione. He was cringing as he rubbed at the back of his head.

'Ow. If I wasn't inebriated before, I sure am now. I think I have a concussion.'

'Are you alright? We should probably go if you're hurt.'

'No…no. I was just kidding, Hermione. Listen, you stay here. I'm going to the men's but I will come back to try and reclaim my manhood by drinking _you_ under the table.'

She shook her head at him as he stumbled away. Ron wasn't going to last much longer, and besides there was only so much bad music she could take. She was just pulling on her cloak when someone sat down next to her and drawled, 'Early mid-life crisis, Hermione? I mean, Minister.'

Draco nudged her further into the booth before pulling the bottle of firewhisky towards him and pouring himself a glass.

'Sit down, Draco, help yourself.' Hermione muttered sardonically.

'You're too kind. I hope that isn't permanent.' He said, nodding at her hair, 'I mean it in the best possible sense when I say that red is not your colour.'

She glared at him but he continued to sip at his drink casually. 'Are you following me, Draco? Because I have already told you that I do not need you shadowing me all the time. You're being paid to be my bodyguard during work hours, but after that you become a stalker.'

'Hey, you made it quite clear that I wasn't getting overtime. I am simply here to enjoy the night's festivities. That we both happen to be here is mere serendipity.'

If Hermione had been drinking at that moment, it would have all come out of her nose as she scoffed. 'It's hardly serendipity, considering _everyone_ is here.'

'Speaking of everyone, where is your charming fiancé?' Draco asked, giving Ron's glass a tap, 'Unless you've taken to drinking out of two glasses I assume Greg is milling around here somewhere. And if he's here I take it you've finally let slip your sordid secret.'

She stiffened at his drawling words. 'Well actually, as you so eloquently put it, I did reveal my sordid secret. And since I'm here tonight with Ron and not Greg, I assume you understand how well he took it.'

Draco's jaw tightened as he finally looked at her. 'I'm sorry, Hermione. I'm sorry I'm such as ass.'

Hermione waved it off with a shrug, but he leaned in towards her until his cheek was just barely brushing against hers. 'You know, Hermione, as Minister, you could have him…taken care of. I'd be more than happy to oversee the project for you.'

The comment was so unexpected from Draco that Hermione's head snapped back in laughter. Her chin caught sharply against his cheek but this caused Hermione to laugh even harder. He settled back against the couch as she rubbed her chin.

'Thanks but I might take a raincheck on that.'

With a nod, he finished of his glass and poured another. This time he also filled the other, and passed the glass to Hermione. She picked it up and he tapped his glass against hers.

'You're not going to make a toast are you?' she asked dryly.

'Nope, I just want to get you drunk.'

Hermione relaxed back against the purple velvet of the couch and sipped at her drink. Neither of them spoke for a while. They didn't have to. They simply enjoyed the comfortable silence between them. And when they did speak, they both began at the same time.

'I hope –'

'Why aren't –.'

Draco grinned, 'Sorry…' He continued as Hermione shook her head, 'I was just wondering why you weren't out there dancing the night away.'

She followed his gaze towards the exuberantly dancing mass on the dance floor. 'Aside from the fact that this music is too shameful to listen to let alone dance to, I don't really dance.'

'I'll have to file that one away to reference: Minister does not dance.' He drawled. 'Right, so what was it you were saying before I rudely interrupted?'

'I was just wondering where Ron had gotten to. He went off to the men's a while ago. I mean, he's probably just found better company but he was pretty far gone when he left, and he hit his head on the table pretty hard. I hope he's alright.'

'I doubt he'd find better company than you in this place… but knowing Weasley, he'd probably scrape by.'

Hermione raised her brow at this but didn't say a word.

'I'll search the men's for him, if you'd like.' Draco offered, with a wink. Without waiting for her acceptance, he left the booth and was soon lost in the crowd.

With Draco out of sight, Hermione lifted her left hand up from her lap. She had forgotten the darn ring again. Only when she had seen Draco, had she remembered that his ring was still stuck on her finger. She resumed her tug of war with the band, only to groan in frustration when it still refused to budge. She tried massaging her knuckle, to no avail. Frantically, Hermione pulled out her wand to cast various enlarging and removal spells, but none of them came to fruition.

'You weren't kidding when you said he was far gone.' Draco shouted over the boppy music that seemed to be getting louder and louder. He supported Ron as he moved towards Hermione and their booth. 'I found him sleeping it off on the rest room floor.'

Hermione dropped her hands out of sight and put her wand away. 'We'd better get going then. I'll get him home and make sure he's alright. Hopefully he doesn't have a concussion. Thanks for finding him.' She said hurriedly. Hermione scuttled out of the booth and made her way to Ron's other side, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

'No problem. Did you want a hand getting him home?'

Hermione tried to feign an interest in the floor of the dark bar and avoided looking at Draco as she replied, 'No that's fine. Thanks again.'

He merely smiled and sat down on the squishy couch again. But as soon as Draco stepped away from Ron, removing his support, Hermione nearly buckled under her friend's weight. Tall and gangly he may be, but Ron's swaying drunkenness made it difficult for Hermione to hold him up for very long. She stood under Ron's dead weight for a full minute staring at Draco, who was calmly polishing off the firewhisky.

'Okay, Draco. Maybe I could use a hand.' She finally sighed out of desperation.

He turned to grin at her, knowing full well that it would grate at her. 'All you had to do was ask, Hermione.'

Putting his glass down, he slipped his arm around Ron and started weaving through the crowd. While she wasn't really required to hold Ron up anymore, she stayed close to his side. She didn't really want to get too close to Draco, just in case he noticed the ring on her finger. She had no doubt that he would recognise it immediately, and then the drawling taunts would begin.

With Ron between them, alternating sporadically from loud snores to raucous ditties, Hermione and Draco conducted their walk to Ron's flat in silence. Since Ron's place was hardly a stone's throw from the bar, walking back had seemed the simplest solution. With her left hand safely tucked away in her pocket, and her other arm superfluously supporting Ron, Hermione was beginning to enjoy the brisk walk. The night was clear, although you couldn't see the stars. However, that was to be expected. They were in London after all. Hermione recognised the row of identical little flats that indicated the approach to Ron's place. Removing her arm from around Ron's waist, she pulled out her wand and gave her friend's front door a tap. Since they were all at each other's houses so often, Harry, Ron and Hermione knew each other's unlocking charms.

With an absentminded flick of her wand, Hermione lit the candles of the flat and guided Draco and Ron in. As they made their way to the master bedroom, Ron was quietly drooling on Draco's shoulder. He gently placed Ron on the bed as Hermione efficiently pulled off her friend's boots to make him as comfortable as possible. They had just tucked Ron under the covers, when his hand jerked out to grab Hermione's arm.

'Remember Hermy-own-e…fish are slimy. But pigs…they're loyal.' He slurred.

Hermione gave his hand a comforting pat and settled him back down again. She jerked her head towards the door and both Draco and herself left the room. Out in the living room, Hermione thanked Draco for his help with Ron. 'I think I'll stay here tonight, just to make sure he's okay.'

Malfoy nodded and headed towards the front door. Ensuring that her left hand was still out of sight, Hermione decided to see him out. Standing outside on the steps of the flat though, she suddenly became very aware of the ring she wore… and the man to whom it belonged to. The comfortable silence which had lingered between them before was now gone as Draco simply stood there staring at her, his eyes searching. Hermione didn't know what to say, and the tension made her nervously fiddle at her chain. Her uneasy tugs brought the chain and ring out from beneath her blouse, and Draco's eyes were immediately drawn to it.

'New ring?' he asked quietly.

'Greg gave it to me.'

Hermione pretended not to notice that Draco's jaw tightened in seeming anger before he turned to stride away. Draco was a complication she didn't need. '_Well that's funny considering it's his ring you're actually wearing.'_ A voice in the back of her mind scorned. Hermione shook the thought away and tried to ignore the silver band that now seemed to tingle on her left hand. She was concentrating so hard that Hermione didn't notice that Draco had stopped at the bottom of the steps and had turned back, striding up towards her again. She was jerked from her thoughts as she looked up at Draco. She opened her mouth to say…something, but he beat her to it.

'He doesn't deserve you.'

Hermione stiffened at the quiet but forceful comment. 'Why? Because he's a muggle? I don't know if you went and hit yourself on the head too, but you seem to be forgetting that I'm a mudblood.'

'That wasn't what I meant, Hermione, and you know it. He doesn't deserve you because he doesn't know you. Because if he knew you, he would understand that being a witch and being the Minister of Magic means everything to you. And he would love you all the more for it.'

Hermione suddenly felt like sobbing. Not because what Draco said presented an epiphany screaming out Greg's unworthiness, but because his words brought back the memory of a boy she had loved so deeply, so long ago. A boy she had said goodbye to so long ago without ever truly believing it.

Beyond conscious thought, her hand reached out to touch Draco's cheek. And though he had changed over time that single touch brought back memories of the Draco she had known so intimately. Hermione stood up on her toes and brushed her lips against his. All those nights they had spent together came flooding back. Hermione could feel a tingling sensation spread throughout her body.

Though at first Draco seemed to resist, it didn't last for long. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him, slanting his mouth over hers. Everything in Hermione's mind seemed to buzz and flicker with the familiarity of this embrace. So, it took longer than a moment for her to register the anger that emanated from Draco as he finally pushed her away. He gave the ring hanging from her neck a playful tug as he glared down at her.

'Go ahead and use me, Hermione, but not as a rebound for him.' Draco growled.

Before Hermione could think things through, her hand came across Draco's face in a stinging slap. She expected retaliation, but he simply gripped her wrist and pulled her hand towards him. Too late did she realise that it was her left hand, and Draco was looking down at his own ring sitting on her wedding finger.

'Well, that is interesting.'

Hermione stiffened as he began to laugh. If he hadn't still been gripping her hand, she would have ripped the ring off and thrown it in his face, dislocated knuckle be damned. With a cocky grin on his face he finally let go of her. He swooped down and kissed her once more before drawing back and walking away. His kiss shook her so much that she couldn't think of a thing to say to him.

'Get a good night's sleep, Hermione. You're going to need it.' He called back over his shoulder before disapparating.

How he made _that_ sound like a threat, Hermione had no idea.

**A/N: **Hey, everybody. I hope you're all having a fabulous holiday season. I won't bore you with my excuses for not updating. I just hope y'all haven't given up on me. Huge thanks to all of you reading this. And I adore all the reviews I've been getting. Thanks to all those who are giving me suggestions in their reviews too, a lot of them are great and I'm trying to take them all on board. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Luv HObYtLAh ;0)


	10. The Morning After

_The identity spells would be administered by Minister Officials; however, would not be activated until the agreed upon period, i.e. school holidays._

Hermione tried to concentrate on what she was doing; then she realised that she had read the same line four times now. '_It's no use.' _Hermione thought to herself with a frown. She had been admonishing herself all morning now, to no effect. She simply couldn't get her mind off last night's kiss.

Hermione's head bopped up at the sound of her door creaking open without the customary knock. Her frown deepened to a veritable scowl but the blond head that poked through the doorway took no notice.

'Did you want a coffee or tea there, Minister?' Draco asked.

'Since when did you decide to become a lackey?' Hermione said archly. She was irritated at herself for being so annoyed by Draco's mere presence. So she took it out on him.

'I believe the correct term is Beverage Assistant,' he replied with a raised eyebrow, clearly picking up on Hermione's out-of-the-blue waspish tone. 'And I only asked because I'm sending Creevey to make mine up. But if you'd rather have him make two trips instead of one…'

'Fine. I'll have a cup of tea,' she snapped, 'No, make it a pot of tea.'

Draco simply nodded as he closed the door again. And it made Hermione want to scream with frustration. It had become customary, that whenever she was simply working in her office Draco would stand outside said office looking surly, and thus performing his bodyguarding duties. This system usually meant Hermione was able to get her work done without Draco hovering over her shoulder. But today, Hermione couldn't seem to get any work done because she was so aware of the fact that he stood just outside her office. Oh Merlin, what a crackpot: being flustered by his mere presence. She was beginning to feel like one of those insipid Regency novel characters. And it was all _his_ ruddy fault.

Thoughts of last night's kiss had buzzed through Hermione's head since she had stumbled off Ron's couch this morning. She had been filled with confusion and a slight tinge of apprehension at the thought of facing Draco at the office. But from the moment she stepped out of her office fireplace, that apprehension had been quickly replaced by a feeling of petty anger. Draco had greeted her with his usual nod, asked her about her plans for the day, then sauntered out to his usual spot by the door.

The smarmy bastard didn't even have the decency to fake some awkwardness over last night's kiss, and here she was unable to get any work done because she simply couldn't get it out of her mind. Granted, it was only a kiss. It was very likely that Draco was so accustomed to being accosted by women that he wasn't even giving the kiss a second thought. She definitely didn't like to think of herself as one of those trollops throwing herself at him, but she had to admit it to herself, even if she would deny it to a host of Deatheaters. _She_ had kissed him. Despite being engaged or at least still semi engaged, she had kissed him. Despite having a few drinks, she could not blame the alcohol because she had wanted to kiss him. And _that_ ruddy well meant she (still?) had feelings for Draco Malfoy.

Hermione groaned as the realization hit her. She was about to try and pound some sense into herself by banging her head against her desk, when a hand waved before her eyes.

'Hello, Hermione. Anybody home?'

Hermione jumped in her seat with a little shriek. Harry placed a hand on her shoulder and looked down at her with worry. She hadn't noticed him standing there and wondered how long he'd been there for.

'Are you alright, Hermione? I didn't know where you'd gone for a second there.'

'I'm fine. I'm fine. You just caught me daydreaming, that's all.'

Harry propped his hip against her desk and leant towards her, 'Listen, Hermione, Ron told me about what happened with Greg, so if you want to talk about it…or arrange for him to be killed, I'm here for you.'

'Thanks a lot, Harry, but I'm fine. Seriously.'

The door opened, again without a knock, and Draco walked in carrying a teapot in his hands. 'I decided to try my hand at being Beverage Assistant after all.' He drawled as he placed the teapot on Hermione's desk.

'Great body guard you are!' Hermione snapped, making Harry jump beside her. 'Didn't you hear me scream before? I could have been decapitated before you sauntered in here with that tea.'

Draco raised a sardonic brow, 'You had an appointment with Potter. But if in future you wish for me to accost all your appointments, I'll be happy to oblige.' he said with a wicked smirk.

Hermione felt her cheeks flame at the word "accost" and ducked her head to avoid Harry's bewildered gaze. Darn it, she didn't want to amuse Draco with her infantile behaviour. And she certainly didn't want to have to explain her behaviour to Harry.

'Fine, whatever.' She mumbled, not looking up until she heard the door close behind Draco.

Harry's gaze was still bouncing from where Draco had just stood back to Hermione.

'Hermione, if Malfoy's done or said anything to upset you, you'd tell me, wouldn't you?' Harry asked with concern marring his features.

She sighed inwardly before straightening in her seat to look up at Harry with a raised eyebrow. 'Why, so you can beat the smug out of him? Listen Harry, I know that your heavily pregnant wife has gotten your protective side into gear, and I appreciate the concern, but believe me when I say I can handle Malfoy.' Now, if only she could convince herself. 'And speaking of the bearer of my future God-child how is Ginny holding up?'

Hermione couldn't help feeling simultaneously joyous for and jealous of Ginny as she watched Harry practically melt at the mention of his beloved wife. Every pregnant woman alive undoubtedly wished for a husband like Harry. One who obviously still loved them despite the fact they looked like (direct quote from Ginny) "a bloated whale who had swallowed a colony of elephants". While Harry chattered happily about his wife and unborn child, Hermione tried to push her own problems to the back of her mind and absorb her friend's happiness.

'Excuse me, Minister. I hate to interrupt but Creevey wanted to remind you of your Hogwarts appointment.'

Draco's sarcastic drawl broke through Harry's descriptions of his baby's attempt at Irish dancing within Ginny's womb. Harry stopped short and glanced down at his watch, before smiling ruefully, 'So much for briefing before the meeting. I guess we're just going to have to wing it. I'll go get my scrolls and then fetch Ron. We'll meet you back here before setting off.'

Harry had nearly made it to the door when he paused and turned with a smile. 'Looks like the Potter Gang's heading back to Hogwarts for mischief.'

Hermione noticed Draco roll his eyes behind Harry's back and quickly stopped herself from doing the same. 'Yeah right. It was more like Hermione Granger and the Chopped Livers.'

With a short, sharp laugh Harry left her office. Draco stepped into the office as the door clicked shut. Hermione put immense effort into gathering requisite scrolls in order to avoid looking up at Draco. She knew that her insane behaviour was probably transparent to someone like him and she didn't particularly want to face him about it.

'Ah, Hogwarts: home of my happiest memories. This should be fun, shouldn't it?'

Hermione couldn't help but look up at that, only to see him grinning at her with the same wicked expression he'd worn last night as he'd wished her good night. She suddenly felt herself wishing for her sullen, sarcastic bodyguard's return. She didn't know if she could trust herself around this grinning and jovial version of Draco. Hermione dropped her gaze from his and picked up her quill, pretending to sign some random pieces of parchment.

'As much as I'm sure you'd enjoy reliving your happiest memories by dunking student's heads into the toilet bowl, that kind of behaviour may reflect badly on the Ministry, so try and restrain yourself.' Hermione said, acting deliberately obtuse about Draco's reference to happy memories. She continued her pointless signing, as she felt him stride up until he was beside her. The quill in her hand snapped as he leant down and whispered in her ear.

'I don't know, Minister. With you there, I think I can recall a few other memories I'd be only too happy to relive.'

* * *

Hermione had never known that such a short carriage ride could feel so awkward. As the age-old horse-less carriages of Hogwarts made its way through the school gates, its four occupants fiddled around in restless silence. Ron, looking rather green, seemed very nervous about his meeting with Professor Dumbledore. The meeting wasn't anything out of the ordinary for him, but he hadn't yet fully recovered from last night's debauchery.

Harry was practically twitching in his seat, impatient to find a fireplace in order to get into contact with his wife. Ginny had an appointment with the midwife that afternoon, and Harry was eager to hear about his baby. Although she was sitting beside him, Hermione barely even noticed Harry's twitching. She was too busy pretending to ignore the fact that Draco was staring at her. She had felt his steady gaze on her from the moment they had left the office. He was clearly doing it to unnerve her and, curse him, it was working!

Hermione couldn't help feeling ridiculous at her petty angst over his disregard of the kiss. It now seemed clear that Draco had not forgotten the kiss but was simply waiting to get out of the office before bringing up the issue. However, with Ron and Harry travelling with them, Draco had not gotten Hermione alone as of yet. She wasn't sure if she was grateful to her friends for being there. She wasn't sure if she was ready to confront Draco with the implications of the kiss or her feelings yet. She wasn't sure if she was ready for him to reject her again.

Hermione sighed as the carriage came to a halt. It was time to get to work, to put these bewildering thoughts aside and pull on her Minister cape. Harry practically jumped out of the vehicle, and Ron followed at a more sedate pace, leaving half his scrolls behind. As Hermione finished gathering these up she looked up to see that Draco had also exited but was holding the carriage door for her. Since she carried her briefcase in one hand and Ron's scrolls in the other, Draco held her by the waist and swung her down to the gravelled path. Looking up at him, the mumble of thanks died on her lips and Hermione felt the same urge to kiss him that had swamped her the previous night. It was clichéd. It was stupid. But as she looked up at his stormy grey eyes she yearned to draw him closer and linger within his embrace. It was only Dumbledore's jovial greetings from the steps of the school that broke through her inane inklings.

As she turned from Draco, Hermione tried to shake off some of the tension and plastered a smile on her face. She passed Ron's scrolls to him as she made her way to Dumbledore and Ron took them with an embarrassed smile.

'Professor Dumbledore. It's lovely to see you again.' She said with her hand outstretched to her old headmaster.

'Albus, please.' Dumbledore smiled.

Hermione gave a little shrug. 'Force of habit.' She laughed, 'And I don't foresee my breaking that habit any time soon. You'll always have something new to teach me. As such, you'll always be my professor.'

Dumbledore chuckled as he led the entourage through the hallways to his office.

'I understand you wished to speak to me about two separate issues.' He enquired as they walked.

'Well, actually, Harry and I will be addressing one of the issues while Ron undertakes the other.'

Hermione knew Ron wouldn't need her presence at his meeting, since having an "audience" would probably make him all the more nervous.

'If we're to have two separate meetings, then whom shall I see first?'

Hermione glanced over at Ron who was gripping his scrolls rather tightly, and decided to put him out of his misery. Dumbledore followed her gaze and smiled at Ron.

'Ron, if you'd be so kind as to follow me up to my office we can get started.' Dumbledore then turned his smile towards Harry, Hermione and Draco. 'Feel free to take a turn around the school while you're waiting. I'm sure Hagrid would love a visit.'

Harry cleared his throat to get Dumbledore's attention before he turned away again. 'Excuse me, professor. You wouldn't happen to have a spare fireplace I could use to contact my wife, would you?'

'Oh certainly, the staff room should be unoccupied at this hour. How is Ginny doing?'

Harry immediately brightened, 'Oh great! She's seeing the midwife today and we should be getting our first picture of our baby. Thanks a lot, professor.' With that he turned and bounded away towards the staff room. Dumbledore chuckled at Harry's eagerness before joining Ron in his office, leaving Draco and Hermione standing in the hallway alone together.

'So are you up for a turn around the school, Minister?' Draco laughed beside her.

Hermione started off towards the familiar corridors before replying. 'I think I might just visit Hagrid.' She said warily.

Although she knew she could never outrun Draco, she wanted to put as much distance between them as possible. She didn't want any sudden yearnings to overcome her. By the time she had pushed the door open and was walking down the lawn towards Hagrid's hut, Draco was already striding beside her. They continued to stride (with Hermione exaggerating her stride so as not to hinder the pace) in silence for a while. Hermione caught a glimpse of Hagrid's vegetable patch and realized her sanctuary was in sight. It took a lot of self-restraint for her not to bolt towards it. And this self-restraint was sorely tested when she felt Draco grab her by the hand. Hermione froze at his touch.

'So are we going to talk about this or not?'

Hermione couldn't understand how Draco could sound so rational and calm when her heart was pounding in her temples.

'Talk? What are you talking about? What's there to talk about?' Hermione mumbled inanely, 'I don't know what you're talking about.'

'Oh come on, Hermione you've been uptight all day. I know you need to talk about it as much as I do.' He didn't even give her a chance before continuing, 'About fact that you kissed me last night; About the fact that you're engaged to another man but wearing _my_ ring.'

Hermione drew her hands into the folds of her cloak and blushed.

'Let's just find somewhere private where we can discuss this like rational adults.'

'Rational adults? Well that would exclude you from the discussion wouldn't it, Draco?'

He merely chuckled, slipped his hand into hers and gave her a slight tug. Hermione was so distracted by the warmth of his hand holding hers that she failed to notice that they were headed for the Forbidden Forest until they were within its shadows. She stopped to look up and around at the trees that surrounded them, and felt the bittersweet memories rush back at her. The Forbidden Forest was where it had all begun for Draco and Hermione. And while not all of the memories it held were happy ones, they were all she had been left with when Draco had disappeared so long ago.

Hermione's gaze finally fell on Draco, the sight of him blurred by her tears. He stepped towards and swept his hand across her cheek wiping away her tears with a gentleness that was imprinted within her memory.

'Don't cry, Hermione. I know,' Draco whispered, 'I know what this place means to you, to us.'

Draco cupped her cheeks in his hands, tilting her face towards him. As he stared down at her, Hermione recognized the yearning she saw within his gaze. And it made her want to cry all over again, but for an entirely different reason.

'You know what? Maybe we don't need to talk after all.' Draco muttered as he leant down and kissed her, drawing her tightly against him.

Hermione's arms snaked around his waist and she clung on to him like a limpet as she reacquainted herself with Draco's mouth. His lips slanted over hers and she yielded beneath him. His hands wandered from her face to entwine within her hair at the back of her head. Though Hermione was suffering from some lack of oxygen, even if the riders of the Apocalypse had been prancing behind her she would not have pulled away willingly.

This didn't seem to be the case for Draco as he abruptly lifted his head and turned to look around.

'What was that?'

Hermione was still trying to remember how to draw breath, and was vastly grateful that Draco had not released her. She was relatively certain that if he had, she would currently be a rather messy puddle on the forest floor. Draco took hold of her hand once more and turned again. It was then that Hermione realized the reason for his sudden distractedness. There was a rustling in the bushes just ahead of them. Draco's inner bodyguarding instincts must have kicked in while they'd been kissing and he had leapt straight into action.

Though they weren't far into the Forbidden Forest, Hermione knew of many dangerous creatures that lurked within its shadows. She followed Draco's lead and withdrew her wand from her robe, holding it at ready as they approached the rustling bush. With one quick movement, Draco swept the offending plant aside ready to fight the bloodthirsty animal that surely hid behind it, only to be confronted by high-pitched squeals of the human female variety. Hermione was quick to restrain Draco's wand arm as she looked down at the two students that clung to each other on the forest floor.

The squealer was a curly-haired blonde with suspiciously rumpled robes and smudged lip-gloss. Her companion was a tall and gangly Asian boy. Both looked absolutely petrified as Draco scowled down at them, his wand still held high. '_Obviously we weren't the only ones interrupted_,' Hermione chuckled inwardly before taking pity on the randy teenagers.

'Shouldn't you both be in class?' was all she had to say for the two students to scramble away. Hermione waited until they were out of sight before she began to laugh, really laugh, until she was on the forest floor clutching her stomach. Draco soon joined her with his low chuckles.

'I'm glad we were never caught out like that. I might never have wanted to kiss you again.' Hermione laughed before grabbing him by the front of his robes and pulling him towards her.

* * *

**A/N: **Hey, hey. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I hope that y'all don't think that this story is moving along to slowly (in terms of storyline and not my sluggishly paced updating) because I have plans for it…Thanks again for all of you who have supported me and this story with your reviews and constant checking for my updates (though hopefully you know by now not to check to often, to avoid disappointment). Oh I also have to mention that in terms of Hidden Agenda, book six never existed…(hehehe I'm still happily in denial). Yay to all you readers of my work….luv HobYTlaH ;0) 


	11. We need to talk

**_We need to talk_**

Hermione felt a buzzing in her pocket and it felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped on her head. She realized that the light vibration came from her wand, most likely Harry trying to contact her. All the same, the small tremor worked as a most effective wake up call. Hermione froze just as Draco was leaning down to kiss her once more.

'_What in the name of Magic are you doing?'_ Her thoughts were screaming at her. '_You're here for a _business meeting _and you end up frolicking in the forest with your flipping bodyguard, for Merlin's sake! What has come over you?'_

It seemed Draco had no trouble discerning her inner furore. He swept his finger under her chin, tipping her face up and forcing her to look at him. As he determinedly held her gaze, the screaming in Hermione's head faded to the lightest whisper.

'Don't regret this, Hermione. Not after everything we've been through. You and I need to talk…' he paused as if lost for words, 'about everything. There's a lot we need to get through. But don't you dare regret this for a moment.'

Hermione was so stunned all she could do was nod. It wasn't that she regretted the kiss—or to be fairer to Draco, the inexplicable moments of passion—. The fact of the matter was, losing Draco so suddenly and devastatingly ten years ago had driven _all_ of Hermione's defences up. And while his silent protectiveness and sarcastic repertoire had slowly charmed her over the past weeks, those defences were still there.

The buzzing in her pocket became more insistent and Hermione could almost picture Harry hopping up and down with worry over her whereabouts. She reached into her pocket and grasped her wand. It calmed immediately at her touch.

'We had better get back. Harry and Dumbledore are waiting.' Hermione whispered, her throat still tight with emotion.

Draco didn't say anything. After one last searching glance he stepped back, clasped his hands behind his back and his surly bodyguard guise had returned.

Hermione immediately set about straightening herself up. She brushed down her robe and flicked back a few unruly curls. With that done, she reached over and slicked Draco's hair back behind his ears.

She didn't realise what she was doing until she noticed him grinning at her. With an embarrassed smile Hermione turned to make her way out of the forest. As both of them strode towards the castle they knew that neither of them would be able to concentrate very well on the meeting ahead.

When they arrived in front of Dumbledore's office, it was just as Hermione had imagined. The Professor was smiling indulgently from his seat behind his desk, and Harry was pacing around impatiently. When she entered with a quiet apology, Harry gave Draco a suspicious glare before taking his seat. Hermione did the same while Draco remained standing by the door.

The meeting went surprisingly well, all things considered. In her current state, Hermione had been afraid that she wouldn't be able to do Susan's proposal any justice. However, Professor Dumbledore had been very thorough in his examination of the proposal notes and didn't seem to have too many questions. She was able to answer most of the questions he did have, and those she couldn't, Harry was more than capable of doing so. It seemed Harry took his poster-boy role for this scheme very seriously.

'Certainly I have my doubts about the proposal. But if I didn't have _any _doubts I would be wondering what I had missed. Nevertheless, an exercise such as this might seem to give the impression that I do not trust my students. And that is not the case at all. It has been my experience that showing a little trust can induce a person to choose the right way of things by themselves.' Dumbledore said.

'That's all well and good, Professor, and I do admire your sentiments. However, it's becoming clear—as Susan's statistics have shown—that trust is no longer enough. It is not the aim of the Ministry to set-up a Big Brother type conspiracy. We are trying to protect these curious young witches and wizards from any harm they may unknowingly do to themselves. The wand tag would be a precautionary measure which would hopefully dissuade students from giving into their curiosity.' Hermione enforced.

Dumbledore smiled with his fingers templed in front of him, pausing in thought. The room fell silent as Harry and Hermione waited for his response.

'We'll be hard-pressed to convince parents that this isn't an invasion of privacy. But I will put forward this proposal at the next school councillor's meeting, with my full approval. If all goes well, we should be able to implement a trial wand tagging for the next holiday.' He said finally.

Both Hermione and Harry turned to each other with simultaneous smiles. They had both known that Dumbledore's support was all they really needed to get the proposal through. Susan was going to be celebrating her victory tonight.

Harry had already stood up to shake Dumbledore's hand and Hermione blindly followed his example. Now that the meeting was over, she was back to being confused about her dilemmas with Draco. Even so, her position called for professionalism at all times and she was determined not to let that falter.

'I'd like to thank you, Professor, for taking the time to meet with us on this proposal.'

'Not a problem at all, Ms Granger. There are, however, a few other things I wish to discuss with you. Would you mind if I had a word with you in private?' He addressed the last of this towards Harry and Draco, both of whom seemed to take the hint and left with only a glimmer of curiosity on their faces.

Hermione was somewhat confused and intrigued by Dumbledore's request. She could only imagine he wanted to discuss Hogwarts-Ministry relations, however she didn't understand the exclusion of Harry and certainly not her bodyguard, who was expected to be with her at all times.

Hermione wasn't left wondering for very long, though. As soon as the men departed Dumbledore dove right into the subject at hand and Hermione didn't wonder at his request for privacy any longer.

'You seem to have adjusted to Draco's surprise resurrection rather well. Even gone so far as to hire him as your personal bodyguard.'

'You know I never truly believed he was dead, Professor.' Hermione was slightly surprised by his words. 'And the bodyguard-thing wasn't my idea.' She fell silent for a moment, allowing herself to absorb his words. 'You _knew_ he wasn't dead, didn't you?'

'Not at first, Hermione. For I knew the litany that accompanies the Malfoy ring: _Received upon birth, removed only in death_. His disappearance and the fact that his ring was no longer on his person did seem to indicate that Draco was dead. When I finally discovered the truth of the matter, I realised that Draco was doing everything in his power to keep you safe—'

Hemrione stiffened at these words. Her heart seemed to be pounding in her ears. Dumbledore knew why Draco had left her!

'What do you mean he did it to keep me safe? Safe from what?'

He paused at her reaction, surprised.

Hermione forced herself to relax in the hopes that Dumbledore would continue his explanation.

'He hasn't told you why he left, has he?'

She stiffened again and for a split second considered lying. But when her eyes lifted and met the piercing gaze of Albus Dumbledore's she reconsidered and simply shook her head.

'He disappears for ten years; only to suddenly reappear, and you don't wish to know why?'

'Draco didn't think I needed to know. He said it wouldn't change anything.'

'Certainly it won't change the ten years that have passed. But Draco's sudden reappearance and his newly acquired position by your side seem to indicate that he still has feelings for you. And if those feelings are mutual, Hermione, an explanation could affect your future.'

It took a great deal of Hermione's composure not to blush at the thought of her feelings for Draco being so obvious. She tamped down her embarrassment. She was finally going to get some answers to the questions that had plagued her for ten years.

'I want to know everything.' She whispered. An ominous feeling overcame her as soon as she said it.

Dumbledore stood up and began pacing, working through his thoughts. This only served to make Hermione feel all the more nervous.

'Draco was never a very happy boy. He always had family issues to contend with and a definite social image to live up to. Until, that is, he found you. The fact that he would leave you after he had finally found happiness with you troubled me greatly. That he left his ring behind seemed to indicate something. So I searched for all I could on the tradition of the Malfoy rings. The rings have been a secret and a tradition held in the Malfoy family for generations. Every Malfoy male receives one at birth. There was not a lot I could gather on it. But what I did discern was rather telling.'

Hermione looked down at the ring that was still on her left hand, but she remained silent, desperate for Dumbledore to continue.

'When they become of age, each Malfoy boy must undergo an initiation which sets them up as true Malfoy men. This initiation begins and ends with their ring. The lore of the ring states that upon coming to age a Malfoy must spill the blood of those of the diluted race.'

'Mudbloods.' Hermione spat bitterly.

Dumbledore nodded and continued, 'Failure to accomplish the task meant failure as a Malfoy. Since this would not be tolerated, it also meant death. That is what Draco had to contend with: the murder of a mixed-blood or his own death. His ring would be spell-bound to ensure it.'

Hermione was absolutely stunned by the thought of such a barbaric notion. She had always believed the Malfoy family to be twisted in their prejudices, but she could never have imagined this.

'Having come of age, Draco would have heard the strong call of the ring. It seems to me that he didn't want to take the chance that he may be driven to hurt you, so he left.'

'But how did he survive? How did he get the ring off if it would have meant his death?'

'The only way I imagine he could have accomplished the feat was to convince the ring that he was dead. If he had severed his ring finger, allowing it to die, the ring would have technically been removed in death.'

Hermione gasped at the horrific imagery and frantically began to twist at the ring on her finger.

The Professor persisted, unaware of Hermione's distress, 'Since, as far, as I could tell Draco still has all of his fingers I assume he was able to heal himself and re-grow his finger— Hermione, what's wrong?' Upon noticing her distress, Dumbledore swept towards her and knelt in front of her chair. 'What are you doing?'

But Hermione was almost hysterical in her attempts to pull the ring off her finger and she took no notice of him. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. Her movements were becoming increasingly agitated as she failed to remove the band.

'I don't want it on me anymore.' She wailed frantically. 'I put it on because it was Draco's but I don't want it. Not after what it's done to him.'

Dumbledore laid his hand over hers in order to calm her, and Hermione finally looked up at him. 'Are you saying that you're wearing Draco's ring? The Malfoy ring?'

'Yes,' she stared at him incredulously, 'can't you see it?' She waved her hand in front of him.

'No, Hermione. I may know more about the ring than anyone else outside the family, but I have never seen one. I don't expect I ever will. A Malfoy ring can only be seen by family—'

'And those worthy of the Malfoy name.' Hermione interrupted. When Dumbledore raised his brow at her, she explained, 'Draco told me about it the night before he disappeared. That was the first time I had ever noticed him wearing it.'

'Even knowing that the ring believes you and Draco are meant to be together, you still want to take it off?'

'I don't want to be a part of something that has cost the lives of mixed-blood people.'

'Neither did Draco. He literally severed all ties with that ring and all it meant in order to keep you safe. And yet he deliberately left it behind. I don't believe he left the ring behind for you with any thought of the Malfoy tradition. Maybe he left it for you because of what it showed between the two of you; that you were his worthy companion. By wearing his ring, don't you think that says that you feel the same of him?'

Hermione didn't respond; however, she did stop her frenetic attempts to remove the ring. Seeing her calming down, Dumbledore grasped her hand in his own.

'When Draco disappeared I watched you crumble. I watched you build yourself up again, piece by piece, slowly but surely. I tried to find him once I realised the truth. I tried to trace him using the same wand tracking spell you plan to use for the wand tagging project, but to no avail. He seemed to have stopped using his wand completely.'

A number of things seemed to click at Dumbledore's words and a lot of Draco's unexplained, odd behaviour became clearer. 'Draco didn't need his wand anymore. He can perform spells without it.' She muttered, remembering Draco healing her hand and unlocking her door without his wand. She had been puzzled by it at the time but hadn't given it anymore thought.

'Telekinetic use of magic is a very rarely used branch of Magic. I'm not surprised Draco was able to accomplish it though. He was always very determined when he wanted something bad enough.' Dumbledore paused before continuing once more. 'I never told you what I discovered back then because I believed that you needed to move on. I'm telling you this now because you need to know. So you can move on with your life, with or without Draco. Only you can decide, and you can only decide with all the facts. You and Draco are going to have to talk things through. Maybe you should think about that before you do anything drastic about getting the ring off your finger.'

Hermione was grateful that she seemed to have regained control of her emotions. She stood up and gave Dumbledore's hand a squeeze in thanks for all he had given her today.

'Feel free to use my fireplace to floo back. It's been a long and no doubt emotional day for you. There's no reason to prolong it with travel.'

'Thank you, professor.'

He released her hand and guided her to the door. 'Go on, Hermione, he'll be waiting for you.'

When she left Dumbledore's office with a shaky breath, she had expected Draco (at the very least) to be waiting outside for her. When he wasn't there she was somewhat puzzled and, truth be known, slightly disappointed. When she looked around and noticed the darkening sky, then looked down at her watch Hermione realised why Draco, Harry and Ron had not waited around for her. She had been in Dumbledore's office for much longer than she had anticipated. She could hardly fault Draco for not waiting around for two hours when she had been cloistered safely in the headmaster's office. Nevertheless, she did wonder where they were now.

As she made her way down the corridor, she passed a few students. They took no notice of her, so absorbed were they in their own anguishes.

'I've got a pimple the size of a boil on my nose. There's no way she's going to say yes if I ask her out now!' the boy wailed.

Hermione didn't have the heart to ask the boy and his friend whether they had seen Draco and company. She didn't want him to be embarrassed if he suspected she had overheard his misfortune. Plus she would have found it hard-pressed to contain her laughter if his pimple really was the size of a boil. Luckily it soon became apparent that she wouldn't need to ask the melancholy teen, because Draco was making his way towards her.

Hermione was about to enquire as to Ron and Harry's whereabouts but caught sight of Draco's face. She gasped at his appearance instead. 'What happened to you?'

Draco's hair was ruffled almost as much as Harry's usually was. His robes were in a general state of disarray and he was sporting a shiner of a black eye.

'What? Oh, I'll explain later.' He mumbled with a glance towards the few students that were passing through the same corridor they were in. 'You ready to go?'

'Where are Ron and Harry?'

'They've already gone. It's getting late. Harry wanted to get back to his baby carrier and I convinced Ron to go back with him, since I can see you home myself.' Draco slipped his hand to the small of her back to guide her to the doors but Hermione stopped him.

'Dumbledore says we can use his fireplace to floo back. It'll be quicker. But first tell me what happened to you.'

Draco looked around the corridor but it was deserted. All the students seem to have gone to the Great Hall for dinner.

'Alright. While you and Dumbledore were having your meeting Harry and I decided to walk down to the quidditch pitch, since it's been a day of reliving old memories. Surprise, surprise Ron, quidditch-nut that he is, was already down there trying to convince Madam Hooch to let him steal a broomstick and have a whiz around.'

'Did they decide it would be more fun to attack you with the broomsticks instead?' Hermione asked impatiently. Draco seemed to be acting deliberately slow when it came to relaying the tale.

'No. After we convinced Hooch, the three of us had a rip-roaring game of quidditch.'

'And…'

'And what?'

She gave him a vicious glare, 'And how did you get that lovely black eye you're sporting?' she said it slowly treating him like a simpleton. Hermione waited, and if she didn't know better she would have sworn that Draco was blushing.

'If you must know, I got distracted. We were playing quidditch, I caught sight of the forbidden forest and started thinking of all the lovely things we were doing there this afternoon, and I caught the ball with my eye because of it.'

Hermione laughed—just a little—she couldn't help herself. Without another word, both Draco and Hermione walked down towards Dumbledore's office again.

'Are you alright?' Draco finally asked after they entered the office to see that no one was there. 'That private meeting seemed important. And you seem a little far away now.'

'I just…We need to talk.' Hermione sighed as she looked up at him. Those four words always conjured images of dread and awkwardness. She desperately wished that her relationship with Draco could remain as light-hearted and carefree as it had been just minutes before. However, Dumbledore was right. There was a lot that Draco and herself had to talk through.

Seeing the worry on her face, Draco reached up and brushed the furrow from between her brows. 'Okay.'

She grasped a handful of floo powder from the pot sitting on the mantle and threw it into the fire. 'Let's go home.' She whispered as she watched the flames turn green.

* * *

**A/N: **I do not own any of the above characters. I am not that talented. Copyright belongs to J.K Rowling. Woops haven't done that in a while. Anyhoos, hope y'all liked that one. Fingers crossed it answered some of your questions, but there's plenty more to come (insert tense music). Thanks again for all the support y'all have been giving me. It gives me special tingly feelings (of a totally non-dirty manner) to know that there are so many of you who read and review my story. 

Luv HoByTlaH ;0)


	12. A Little Conversation

Hermione knew it was going to be awkward but she hadn't expected this icy silence. As soon as they had reached her place, a stiff mask had come over Draco's face. His defences were well and truly up. Hermione knew it would take a lot of her energy to break through those defences, but she couldn't seem to gather the energy she needed.

She lingered over the coffee she was making before taking it out to the living room. Draco was sitting stiffly on her couch, adamantly not looking at her. The change in his demeanour since leaving Hogwarts was beyond dramatic, and his defensive mood wasn't making any of this easier.

Hermione put the coffee down onto the little table in front of the couch and simply stood there staring down at him. She didn't trust herself to sit beside him on the couch. The memory of what had happened the last time they shared the couch might just prove too much of a distraction.

'You were the one who said we needed to talk about everything…' In her own head, her words sounded like a petty accusation. She hadn't wanted to be the one to start the conversation, but the tense silence had gotten the better of her. 'When we were in the forest.' Her uncertainty and tension were evident in her shaky voice.

'It's hard, Hermione. Harder than I expected it to be.' Draco choked out in a bitter voice.

Hermione collapsed back against the one-seater next to the couch.

'You don't think this is hard for me too? I'm engaged, Draco. I'm engaged but I'm wearing another man's ring and…You don't think this is hard for me?'

'That's not what I meant.' He replied softly, still looking into the empty fireplace.

Her heart began to thud as the silence fell again and Hermione gritted her teeth in exasperation.

'I know about the ring…why you left. That's what Dumbledore wanted to talk to me about.'

Draco flinched at her words; then swept his hand across his face as if to hide his reaction. It was as if he'd been expecting her words, yet dreading them at the same time.

'So you know. What's the point of talking about it, then?'

Hermione was momentarily startled by the sudden anger she felt. It seemed to choke up in her throat. It had taken Draco mere weeks to break down ten-years of self-preserving defences and now that he had broken through, he was willing to simply back down. There was absolutely no way she was letting him slip by this easily. She deserved—no, demanded—an explanation, at the very least, from him.

'What's the point? If you're so ready and willing to give up on this…on us, then maybe there isn't a _point_ to us talking things through. Nonetheless, you've put me off for long enough, but this time we're actually going to talk things through. Not just about why you left but about why you came back too.' She enforced.

As Hemrione drew in an angry breath, Draco appeared relieved. She knew he needed to talk about this just as much as she did. They both had a lot of things to say to each other before either of them could move on with their lives.

'I came back for you.' Draco said, finally looking her straight in the eyes.

Her anger seemed to give her mind astonishing clarity. She leaned back into her seat and folded her arms against her chest, shaking her head at him.

'Don't lie to me, Draco. I deserve better than that.' Hermione was surprised at the strength in her voice. Her previous nervous tremor had vanished. 'If you had come back for me, you could have done so a long time ago. Why did you come back?'

'I came back because of the ring.'

Even though Hermione had innately known the truth, she still hadn't expected it to hurt so much. She closed her eyes against the pain and stood up out of her chair. She would have walked straight out of the room but Draco reached out and grasped her by the arm to stop her. She certainly hadn't expected him to after what he'd said. Hermione clenched her jaw, begging herself not to break down and cry in front of him. She spun around to face him while tugging at the ring on her finger.

'If you wanted your ring back so badly you should have just told me. You should have just told me the _truth_ from the very beginning. You didn't have to make me fall in—' Her voice trembled as she swallowed her words. This certainly wasn't how she had imagined herself expressing her feelings to Draco, in anger and fear. And once those words were out, they would leave her at her most vulnerable. She just didn't know if she could put that much faith in Draco. Not if he didn't feel the same about her. 'I was doing fine before you came back, Draco. Just fine. So you can take your stupid ring and just leave again.'

But no matter how hard she pulled at it, the band refused to be lifted from her finger. Tears of pain and frustration sprang to her eyes. Draco was shaking his head. With a sharp growl, he covered her hand with his to put a stop to her pointless tugging. Hermione simply shook his hand off before wiping the tears from her cheeks furiously. She cursed herself for being stupid. She didn't want to push him away, just as she didn't want to be such an emotional mess around him. All she wished for was for him to draw her into his arms and make her forget about anything beyond that embrace. Instead, she looked over his shoulder, determinedly avoiding his penetrating gaze.

'I'm not going to be a little happy distraction for you. You may think you can waltz back into my life then waltz back out again once you're done with whatever you seek to do, but you can think again.'

She tried to pull her arm away but his hold tightened. Draco gently pushed her unruly hair back from her face. He tilted her face towards him to ensure he had her full attention.

'This is a part of why it's so hard for me to talk to you about this. I know that no matter what I say your lightning-fuelled brain will question it; then jump to the worst possible conclusion.'

Hermione opened her mouth to argue but Draco stopped her.

'And I can't say I blame you. I haven't exactly done much in the past to instil a sense of confidence. But I need you to let me explain, in my own time and pace. Just give me this one chance before you decide anything.'

It was all Hermione could do to nod her head. She needed this, needed to hear all that Draco had to say. Like Dumbledore said, it was time for her to move on: with or without Draco.

'I came back because someone's looking for the ring. I knew you had it and I didn't want you to get hurt if they realised where it was. I needed to be here to protect you.'

Hermione stiffened in surprise. 'You knew that attacker was going to be there that night, didn't you?'

'I didn't know precisely when or where it was going to happen. But I knew it was going to, sooner or later. These people will stop at nothing to get what they want.'

'Well then, thanks for taking the time out of your no doubt busy schedule to come and protect me.' She spat out sarcastically. This conversation was turning out too much as she had feared it would. 'You seemed to have done a great job of getting your point across since there have been no further attempts to get to me or the ring. I'd love to give you back your ring, so you can get back to whatever life you had before you felt obliged to protect me. However, I seem to be having some difficulty taking it off.' Hermione tried to shrug him off again but this time Draco pulled her towards him until there was barely an inch between their faces.

'I hate it when you get flippant. Why don't you ask me why I _didn't _come back for you all those years?' he whispered angrily.

He stared down at her and Hermione couldn't tear her gaze away from his piercing grey eyes.

'I stayed away from you for ten years, Hermione. And you think each and every one of those years wasn't torture for me? I stayed away from you because I knew you deserved better than me. I can't escape who I am. This evil, it's inside of me. You know what I'm talking about. Dumbledore would have told you all about the glory of the Malfoy family. I thought I could run away and save you. I ran as far as I could but I could never run far enough to get away from you. I lived off whatever crumbs I could get of you. Every time I heard something about you—the rising star of the wizarding world—it would pull me back. I knew the only thing I couldn't protect you from was myself.'

'But you did! Ten years ago, Draco. You ran away so you could protect me from yourself. Whatever good that did me. Maybe I don't want to be protected from you anymore. Maybe I want the man more than the martyr.'

Draco's grip tightened painfully on her arm as he clung desperately to her. She could see the uncertainty in his eyes, the fear. 'You know everything. About the ring, about my family and what we've done. How can you say that?'

'Because I love you, Draco. I did then and I still do now.'

Hermione felt the uncertainty lift from Draco's shoulders like a blanket of fog. He still looked at her incredulously but the tense mask he had locked on his face crumbled. A smile tugged at his lips as he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers.

'Say that again, Hermione. Ten years I have longed to hear those words from you again. No matter how undeserving I am of your love, I need to hear you say it.' He breathed against her mouth, before resting his forehead on hers.

Hermione shook from the force of her emotions. All her fears, anxieties and tears were gone. Only happiness and her love for him remained. She lovingly rubbed her nose against his and drew his lips down onto hers. Hermione put every ounce of the love she felt for Draco into that kiss. She didn't want to hold back anymore. 'I love y—'

Hermione was startled by a slight choking cough behind her. Both she and Draco turned towards it. Hermione felt the blood drain from her face when she saw Greg standing at the threshold of her living room. He wasn't looking at her. Instead, he was glaring at Draco with a ferocity she would never have expected from him.

'Greg. What are you doing here?' Hermione finally managed to force the words out.

Greg dragged his gaze from Draco and looked towards Hermione as if seeing her there for the first time. The hateful animosity in his eyes disappeared and he looked almost apologetic.

'I knocked but no one answered. When I heard you yelling I thought something was wrong. I thought I'd check on you. The door was open…'

Hermione sighed inwardly. What was it about her that made these men believe she needed to be rescued all the time?

As Greg's mumbled explanation came to a halt, a tense silence filled the room. Hermione was very aware of Draco standing closely behind her. As ungracious as it may seem, she was desperate for Greg to leave. He really couldn't have chosen a worse moment to interrupt. She realised that they still had unfinished business—namely the returning of his ring—but she couldn't deal with it right now. She knew that now her true feelings for Draco had finally come out in the open; there would be no returning to Greg, no matter what happened between Draco and herself.

'I'm fine, Greg, really. I appreciate your concern, nonetheless.'

Greg stared at her for a moment looking as if he wanted to reach out to her. Instead he jammed his hands into his pockets.

'I came because I needed to see you, Hermione. We have a few issues we need to sit down and discuss. But if I've come at an inconvenient time, I can just come back.' He paused, waiting for her response, but Hermione hesitated. It seemed rude to ask him to leave outright, but she certainly didn't want him to stay. As she considered her words to Greg carefully, she felt Draco stiffen behind her. The grip that had remained around her arm loosened and his hand fell away. Hermione felt a strange sense of loss at his withdrawal.

Greg seemed to understand her silence. He turned and quietly walked out of her house. Hermione simply couldn't contain her sigh of relief.

'Why don't you just go after him?' Draco growled from behind her. 'It's clear you want to.'

'What?' Hermione spun around in confusion.

Suddenly, Draco looked so very tired and his eyes seemed so sad. He was clearly trying to hide this behind his anger, though, and Hermione could understand that. It was a purely self-preserving defence. What she couldn't understand was his sudden turn. She had felt his love and acceptance in their kiss. But now it was all locked up again behind this growling attack.

'You say you love me but then Greg waltzes in and you're clearly torn. You obviously still see him as the better choice. What is it with you? Out of sight, out of mind? And you certainly don't seem to mind when _he_ comes over all protective. So why don't you just go after him?'

In that angry outburst, Hermione realised that Draco was acting out on his uncertainties. He doubted himself so much that even after she had declared her love for him, he still didn't believe he was good enough for her. He truly believed he was undeserving of her love and was willing to push her away to prove it.

Ignoring his stiff, defensive manner Hermione moved towards him. She slipped her arms around his waist and laid her head against his chest.

'Because this is where I want to be, Draco.'

He resisted for only a second before he wrapped his arms around her. Draco's lips brushed against her ear as he whispered, 'I'm sorry.'

Hermione's eyes fluttered to a close as he swept his mouth against her cheek and rained gentle kisses over her face.

'I love you, Hermione. And I never want to have to walk away from you again.'

He held her tightly against him, tucking her head under his chin, and Hermione revelled in the feeling of his embrace. Draco chuckled when Hermione's stomach gave a loud grumble, spoiling the mood of the moment somewhat. She blushed but joined in laughing. Hermione could have stayed in Draco's arms for all eternity, but it had been a long day and her body was crying out for nourishment.

Draco lifted his chin from her head. He seemed equally reluctant to break the embrace. He smiled down at her, but his smile slowly faded into a frown as something seemed to come to his mind. Hermione gave him a questioning squeeze around the waist.

'Does Greg have a key to this place?'

'No, he's never really stayed over here. Besides, he said the door was open. That's how he got in.'

'If the door had been left unlocked or open, the security measures I installed would have automatically locked it or alerted you that the door was open. The only way he could have gotten in was with a key.' Draco paused, 'So what's Greg doing slipping into your house with a key he shouldn't have?'

* * *

**A/N:** DUN DUN DUN! (my pathetic attempt at dramatic music). I'm sorry peoples, I know this chappie is rather deficient (in terms of length and hopefully not in terms of story). You know me busy, busy, busy. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed it and shower me with your views about it. HObYtlaH 


	13. A Matter of Trust

_**A Matter of Trust**_

'You're going to see him again aren't you?'

Draco and Hermione were lying in bed. Snuggled against the warmth of Draco's chest, Hermione had just been on the precipice of sleep when he had spoken suddenly.

'Hmm…Going to see who?'

'You're going to see Greg again, aren't you?'

Hermione shook off the remnants of the sleepy fog clouding her brain, and sat up.

'Well, I've got to return his ring, Draco. An engagement ring isn't really something you just post back in the mail with a note saying, "Oops you forgot to take this with you on your last visit."' Hermione quipped with a sardonic look in Draco's direction.

Draco, however, seemed too distracted to appreciate it.

'Would it make any difference what-so-ever if I were to ask you not to see him alone?'

Hermione sighed and entwined her fingers with Draco's.

'Draco, how would you like it if your ex-fiancée returned your engagement ring with her new-found lover in tow, rubbing him in your face?'

He raised an eyebrow at her. 'I don't know. I've never technically been engaged before.'

She rolled her eyed at him, knowing he was in his stubborn little boy mood. 'I meant hypothetically.'

'Oh well, then. I wouldn't mind it at all; especially, if I was a creepy git who snuck into other people's houses uninvited.'

Hermione pinched him on the arm but Draco didn't even flinch. He simply turned to her with a look of concern in his gaze.

'Look, Hermione, I'm not trying to tell you who you can or can't see. I'm not suicidal. I just want you to be careful around Greg. There's just something that I don't trust about him.'

'And the fact that I was involved with him has nothing to do with your suspicions?' she asked him dryly, 'Draco, I was engaged to Greg. He's not some psychopathic stranger. You're overreacting about the door thing. I'm sure there's a simple enough explanation for it. I only need to return Greg's ring and explain that it is well and truly over between him and me.'

When Draco didn't respond, Hermione shook her head at him. Twisting around, she dropped a kiss on his brow before settling back against her pillow.

'This is something you don't need to worry about. Just forget about it and get some sleep.' She mumbled around a yawn.

Draco answered this with a non-committal grunt and pulled Hermione closer towards him. Even when Hermione drifted off to sleep, Draco couldn't do the same. He knew that trying to stop Hermione would only push her even more, but he couldn't help worrying at the situation. Maybe he was just being paranoid and anxious about Greg, but he knew better than to ignore his instincts. And his instincts were fairly growling at Hermione's ex-fiancé. Draco rubbed his hand over his face. He knew he wouldn't be getting to sleep any time soon, so he just watched the play of shadows on the ceiling while absentmindedly stroking Hermione's hair.

* * *

Hermione woke up to the sound of her shower running. She stretched noisily underneath her quilt and snuggled deeper into her pillow. It was Sunday, her usual day of rest (rest, meaning she got to sleep in a little longer and lounge around the house with her paper work rather than going to the office with it). But after her discussion with Draco last night, she knew she would be returning Greg's ring today. It was best to just get it over and done with; then move on.

She allowed herself another languid stretch before she swept her bedcover aside and started getting dressed. As she pulled on her jeans, the sound of rushing water from the bathroom halted.

With a grin, she sat back on top of her bed and waited for Draco to make an appearance. So much steam bellowed out as the door opened that Hermione half expected a prune on legs to walk out. But no, Draco walked out as refreshed as ever. Hermione had to smile as she took note of the towel slung dangerously low on his hips and his dripping wet hair.

'You do know that there's a hairdryer in there, don't you? And I do have a dressing gown if you want to borrow it. Wouldn't want you getting cold.' She said with a saucy wink and a grin.

'What? I thought this was the standard morning-after-reappear-from-the-shower look.'

'It is if we were planning to spend the entire day in bed.'

'You make that sound like such a hardship.' Draco drawled, trying to look only mildly affronted.

Hermione just laughed as she stood up and walked towards him. She slipped her arms around his waist and smiled up at him.

'I'm going to give Greg his stuff back today. So you won't have to worry about him anymore.'

Draco frowned but surprisingly didn't say anything. Hermione stroked her hand across his cheek slowly. He reached for her hand and kissed the back of her fingers. Hermione locked eyes with him, trying to reassure him.

'Just relax, Draco. I'll be back before you have time for a full blown pout.' She laughed, then pulled him towards her for a kiss.

Finally, Hermione pulled back, untangling her fingers from Draco's wet locks. With a sigh, she shot out of the room before the urge to stay in bed with him all day overcame her. Stumbling into her study, Hermione quickly gathered the little velvet box that contained Greg's ring and the mobile phone he had given her. She slipped them into her bag, along with her purse and wand.

She made her way through the house to the front door only to see Draco standing there, wearing her dressing gown. He gave her a wink as she halted in her tracks.

'At least it's not pink and fluffy.' He smiled.

Hermione was momentarily stunned. In one hand, Draco held out her thick charcoal cloak and in the other, he had what looked like a travelling mug of tea. He was the picture of new-age domesticated man. Draco helped Hermione get her cloak on, and gave her a peck on the cheek.

'I understand that this is something you have to do by yourself; something I can't interfere with, no matter how much I may wish to.' He told her seriously.

Hermione stared at him trying to gauge precisely what Draco was thinking and feeling.

'So you promise not to follow me to Greg's place?'

Draco raised an eyebrow at her.

'If I don't return after say, three or so days then you can come a-charging with your I-told-you-so's but not today.'

Draco held her gaze for a few long seconds before finally nodding. It was clear that he was still convinced that Hermione needed his protection at all times. However, he seemed to realise how stubborn Hermione was, particularly about this.

'Fine.'

Hermione smiled broadly. Taking the tea from him, she gave Draco a last kiss goodbye and walked out the door.

'I'll see you soon, Draco. We'll go and visit Harry and Ginny when I get back. Check up on how my future godchild is doing.' She shouted back as she bounded down the steps.

'There's no way I'm seeing Potter out of office hours.' Draco yelled back with a smile.

Hermione walked away cradling her tea, absorbing its warmth. She felt that this was an important moment for her and Draco. They had leapt back into their relationship with an alacrity that alarmed Hermione. It may have been ten years in the making but she was still wary of rushing headlong into potential heartbreak. If their relationship was going to last for longer than a diversion, then Hermione would have to learn to trust Draco and vice versa. If Draco actually managed to keep himself from following her today, they'd be one step closer to that.

It certainly would have been a lot quicker for Hermione to apparate to Greg's street, but she wasn't overly familiar with it. She didn't want to cause a ruckus by suddenly appearing amidst a muggle neighbourhood tea party, so she decided to take the bus instead. Besides, the trip would give her plenty of thinking time, something she always appreciated.

As she rounded the corner of her block, Hermione remembered Draco's warning for her to careful. He did have a point. Even though she believed she had what it took to protect herself, as Minister of Magic she would be stupid to take foolish chances.

Most of the neighbourhood seemed to be taking advantage of their day of rest, so the street was relatively deserted. Hermione slipped into the shadowed alcove of a closed factory, pulled her wand out of her bag and whispered a disguise spell.

She gave her new waist-long blonde dreadlocks a shake before returning her wand to her bag. Hermione didn't need to look into the mirror to see that she had also given herself slanted violet eyes, higher cheekbones and various facial piercings. She might draw attention but nobody would recognise her.

With a satisfied smile she continued towards the bus top and waited patiently for the double-decker to arrive. When it rolled towards her, Hermione stepped back carefully to avoid being splashed, then boarded the bus. After she purchased a ticket from the bored looking bus driver Hermione headed to the back of the bus. There were only a few passengers but she was surprised that not one of them even bothered to look her way. With a thoughtful shrug she took her seat and looked out the window.

As the houses and buildings whizzed by, Hermione realised that this would only be her second visit to Greg's house. She had met up with him at his place before a date when they had first started seeing each other. But he had whisked her away as quickly as possible claiming that his house was in a mess because his work had taken up much of his attention. She had never even made it past the front door.

Not that Hermione had minded much. Although Greg had come over to her flat occasionally, he had never stayed over. Hermione had used Ginny as her excuse and Greg had never argued. Now, she marvelled at how little time she and Greg had actually spent together. They had seen each other for nearly a year before getting engaged, but during this time Greg had mostly been busy with his experiments and Hermione with her own work. Both had respected this unquestionably. Their lives had seemed to separate even more when they got engaged. Hermione supposed that was why it had been so easy to hide the fact that she was a witch from Greg.

Hermione felt slightly ashamed when she realised that the distance in their relationship was probably also the reason she had gotten so involved with Greg in the first place. She had spent years trying to cope with heartbreak and then Greg had appeared. He had never wanted more than she felt safe to give; she had convinced herself that the safety she felt with undemanding, unquestioning Greg was happiness.

The force of her feelings for Draco, simply illustrated how inadequate her relationship with Greg had been. Even if things didn't work out between herself and Draco, she knew now that she didn't want to settle for mediocre. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with someone she knew she could be truly happy with.

Hermione blinked and realised her stop was just ahead. She was glad she hadn't missed it. This was something she wanted to get over and done with. With a cheery thanks to the bus driver, Hermione was quickly heading down the street she recognised as Greg's. After a quick check to ensure that no one was around, Hermione shook off her disguise.

She gave her shaggy mop a quick run through with her fingers before giving the red door of Greg's house a brisk knock. After a while, Hermione began to wonder if she should have called ahead to check if he'd be in first. No sooner had she begun scrambling around her bag for her much unused mobile phone, that the door opened quietly. Hermione was startled to see that it was a woman who had answered the door. She looked like she was on the young side of fifty, and wore what would best be described as a tea party dress covered by a full length chequered apron. Her white ringlets were much sleeker than Hermione's own curls.

'I'm sorry, dear. I was just baking up some scones for my next knitting group. I wasn't paying attention to the door.' She smiled at Hermione curiously.

'No, no. I'm sorry I think I've got the wrong house.' Hermione returned the smile apologetically. She felt a bit selfish for interrupting this woman's morning unnecessarily. 'Could you please tell me if Greg Johnson lives around here?'

The woman's eyes widened and then lit up with enthusiasm. 'Oh my, I can't believe that I didn't recognise you straight away. Greg will have my head for this. He's out at the moment. "What am I going to do with you, Gran?" That's what he'll say.' The door widened and Hermione was ushered in insistently.

'You're Greg's grandmother?' Hermione asked incredulously, watching as the slim and cheery woman, who bore no resemblance to Greg, hurriedly slipped her apron over her head. Hermione knew that Greg had been orphaned at a relatively young age but he had never been very open about his family life. She had had no idea that Greg lived with his grandmother.

'Why, yes of course. I'm sorry I forgot that we haven't officially been introduced. I'm Gloria.' She forewent the customary handshake and folded Hermione into an enthusiastic hug. Swiftly, she shuffled Hermione into the sitting room. 'I hope you don't mind if I call you Hermione. I know it's probably not proper but I feel as if I know you already. Greg's told me so much about you. I was so proud of Greg when he met you. I started collecting all of your clippings.'

'I'm sorry, but what clippings are you talking about?' Hermione asked feeling perplexed and slightly overwhelmed by the whirlwind woman.

'Why, all of your Minister of Magic news clippings, of course. First female Minister in almost four hundred years, but of course I don't need to tell _you_ that.' Without pausing, Gloria whipped out a wand from her dress pocket and summoned a large album-like book from her bookshelf. Hermione felt her jaw drop in surprise.

'You're a witch.' She exclaimed redundantly.

Gloria blinked at Hermione for a few moments looking slightly perplexed.

'Well yes, of course, I am.'

'And Greg knows that you're a witch? He knows all about the magical world and the fact that I was the Minister of Magic when I met him?' Hermione's voice trembled with a mixture of confusion and anger.

'Why, of course. I've raised the dear boy since he was only ten years old. He knows all about the magical world. Not a drop of magical blood in him though. But these things skip a few generations sometimes. I suppose that's why he's so intrigued by science. That's his magic.' She said cheerfully before noticing that Hermione had sunk down onto the nearest chair. 'Oh dear, Hermione, are you quite alright? You're looking rather pale.'

Hermione's mind was swarming with the information Gloria had just given her. Maybe it would have been a good idea if she had brought Draco along. Not to protect herself, but to defend Greg when Hermione got to him. Her hands curled into tight fists in her lap as she tried to maintain a calm front for Gloria's sake.

'You wouldn't happen to know when Greg was coming back, would you. Only we have a few things that we really need to discuss.'

'Ooh, wedding plans?' Gloria spoke with such enthusiasm that Hermione didn't have the heart to contradict her. 'I hope you don't think of me as a nosy little busybody but I would love to help with the wedding details.'

She sat down gracefully beside Hermione and took Hermione's hands into her own. She gave them a light squeeze before continuing, 'Now, Greg has told me that you're both planning for a long engagement but these things do take a while to organise. I mean, there's so much to do.'

'Yeah, I know. My best friends just got married a few months ago. It was pretty hectic.' Hermione mumbled helplessly.

'Yes, yes. There's your dress, the guests, where it's going to be, the reception, catering…oh and of course, the rings.' She gave Hermione's hands another squeeze. 'Greg refused to show me the engagement ring that he got for you, just in case you didn't like it. But you'll show it to me now, won't you?'

In her excitement, Gloria didn't wait for Hermione's answer. She just grasped Hermione's left hand towards her, holding her by the fingers. Hermione opened her mouth to argue but stopped when she saw Gloria's face. The older lady's smile disappeared. Her face momentarily hardened and her eyes seemed to flash with rage. For a moment, Hermione felt disconcerted, but Gloria's easy smile returned so smoothly that she realised that she must have misinterpreted the other woman's expression. Hermione tried to gently tug her hand away, but Gloria held on determinedly.

'It's beautiful.'

Hermione's eyes widened as Gloria began to stroke the ring on her wedding finger-Draco's ring-and realised that Greg's grandmother could see it.

'You can see it?'

'Of course, I can see it.' Her smile broadened as she looked up from the ring towards Hermione. 'I know this is very improper of me, but would you mind very much if I tried it on.'

Hermione frowned lightly. Gloria being able to see the Malfoy ring was already odd, but her request was even more bizarre. Wasn't considered bad luck to try on another person's engagement ring? Hermione didn't want to offend the kindly old lady, and she had a feeling that telling her that she was wearing another man's ring and that it wasn't budging off her finger, might just do that. She found herself seriously hoping Greg would return soon. Gloria was still gripping Hermione's fingers and looking down at the ring so hopefully that Hermione began to stammer a response, 'Um, I…don't know if—'

'Grandma, I'm home. How are the scones going?'

Both Hermione and Gloria turned towards the entrance of the sitting room as Greg's head popped in. He paused with a stunned look on his face and Hermione took advantage of the distraction to slip her hands out of Gloria's. Hermione was relieved beyond words that Greg had decided to show up now. She felt Gloria stiffen beside her before the older woman stood up and began fluttering around Greg.

'Look who came to visit, Greg. At long last I've met your beloved Hermione.' She cried as she gave her wand a flick and whisked Greg's scarf and coat into the closet. 'Now I know you two have lots to talk about, so I'll leave you lovebirds alone. I'll go and see to those scones, but I'll pop back with some tea. Oh Hermione, you must be thinking what an ungracious hostess I am, but I was just so excited to finally meet you. I'll be back with your teas.' She laughed before heading out of the sitting room. Hermione's relief to see Greg lasted only until Gloria left the room, then all her feelings of anger returned.

'Surprised to see me, Greg?'

Greg's mouth opened and closed a few times as if he couldn't find the words. He sat down beside Hermione, and she waited patiently for him to find his tongue.

'I know what this must look like…' Greg stammered finally. He looked very nervous.

Hermione couldn't help it, and she snapped at him. 'What it looks like is that I came here to return these to you,' she shoved the velvet boxed ring and the mobile phone in his lap, 'and apologize for any hurt I may have caused you, only to discover that you've been playing _me_ for a fool.'

'Hermione—'

Greg's reply was interrupted as Gloria came bustling back in with a tea tray laden with treats. 'Here we are, tea for two.'

She placed the tray in front of them and began pouring the tea. With a dollop of cream in each cup, she handed the tea first to Hermione, and then to Greg.

'There's some sugar, just there if you want it. And make sure you try the scones and tell me how they are.' Gloria said before leaving them on their own once more.

Hermione sat the cup and saucer on her lap as she waited for Greg to continue his explanation.

'Listen, Hermione, I never meant to lie or hurt you in any way—' Greg said warily.

Hermione felt livid. 'You made me believe that I had _wronged_ you for keeping my secret from you, and you were doing precisely the same thing all along. Did you think that by making me feel guilty I'd be a better wife, eager to do your every bidding to make up for my heinous lies?'

She wanted to throw her teacup at Greg, but she decided it would be more polite for her to drink the contents before she shattered the fragile porcelain on Greg's head. Hermione swallowed the hot tea in almost one gulp, then glared at Greg.

'You don't understand, Hermione. I couldn't tell you…'

Hermione frowned as she listened to him. Her ears seemed to be buzzing and his explanations were fading in and out. She fixed a glare at Greg. He seemed to be swaying around with nerves, and Hermione wished that he would stay still long enough for her to throw her cup at him, as she had planned.

'Hermione! Hermione, are you alright? You look really pale.'

Hermione opened her mouth to tell him that she was just fine, thank you very much, but she couldn't. Her fingers went slack and she saw her teacup clatter noisily to the carpeted floor before she slumped over, unconscious...

* * *

**A/N:** MUUUHAAAAHAAAAAHA (evil cackle) I do not own any part of the amazing Harry Potter Universe. Urgh (disgruntled noise) I would have had this chappie up sooner but unfortunately the document manager wasn't playing nice. Oh well it's up now. Hope y'all enjoy. HObtYlaH ;0) 


	14. Wake Up Remembering

Hermione groaned; she didn't want to wake up. Her time with Draco last night had been so amazing that she didn't want to risk opening her eyes, just in case it all disappeared. Distantly, she could hear the sound of water running. It seemed that Draco had already gotten up and was taking a shower.

'_I hope he doesn't take up all the hot water_', Hermione thought.

With another groan, she tried to turn herself over, only to realise that she couldn't move. Hermione's eyes flew open and everything that had happened that day came back to her with a painful urgency: Gloria, Greg and her passing out. Her head twisted about frantically as she took in her unfamiliar surroundings. She was lying on a stiff bed in a sparsely furnished room. A weak light streamed in through a thin pair of red and white gingham curtains. Cardboard boxes lined one side of the room and an old wooden wardrobe stood on the other. It looked very much like an ordinary spare room.

Hermione strained against the invisible bonds that held her to the bed. It was then that she realised that only her arms were bound. As Hermione kicked and struggled around trying to free herself, the door creaked open and Gloria stepped into the room. She shut the door again with a gentle click and faced Hermione with a benevolent smile.

'Greg was worried that you were feeling poorly. So I suggested that you have a lie down.'

'I was feeling fine until you drugged my tea', Hermione said softly, testing her suspicions.

'Now, now, that's no way to speak to your future grandmother-in-law.'

'Well, it just so happens that Greg and I have pleaded irreconcilable differences and decided to go our separate ways.'

'Oh well, I never truly expected it to last anyway. All that matters is that you're here now.'

Hermione stared at the elderly woman incredulously.

'I don't know what part Greg is playing in this crazy plot, but why on Earth would _you_ drug me and hold me captive in your spare room? You barely even know me', Hermione cried angrily.

Gloria shook her head, her smile still firmly in place. 'That's not true, Hermione. I know all that I need to know about you. You have something that belongs to me. Now that you're here, I'd like to see it returned.'

Hermione would have laughed if she wasn't the one tied down to a bed. This was playing out like a terrible James Bond movie. The grandmotherly villains were always the ones you underestimated. What was it about her that attracted the attention of slightly insane wizards? 'Do I have a sign on my back screaming "Accost me, I'm bound to have something you want"', Hermione thought hopelessly. And the worst part of all was not that she had gone out of her way to apologise to a slimy, lying hairball by the name of Greg, or that she had then been drugged and held captive by his insanely chipper grandmother. No, she was quietly confident that she would be able to handle Gloria and Greg. What she wasn't looking forward to was the knowing I-told-you-so look she was bound to receive from Draco. Just thinking about it made her blood simmer.

Hermione didn't bother to keep the anger out of her voice. She was in no mood for humouring the elderly lady. 'Look Gloria, I just met you today. I have no idea what you think I have of yours, but why don't you just release your binding spell on me and we can talk about this like rational beings.'

Hermione's eyes narrowed as Gloria's smile broadened. Clearly, 'rational' had not been the right word to use. Anyone who smiled as much as she did had to be criminally insane. Hermione didn't know why she hadn't picked up on it earlier. It certainly would have saved her a lot of time.

Gloria completely ignored Hermione's suggestion. 'I have been searching for it for over fifty years. In this past year, I knew that it was finally within my grasp, but even I didn't expect you to walk right up to me and flash it in my face', Gloria's voice dropped to a whisper.

Hermione sighed. Draco's ring had brought her nothing but pain from the moment she had first laid eyes on it ten years before. She should have known this would have something to do with it.

'You want the Malfoy ring. You're the one that Draco said has been looking for it.'

Gloria's smile finally faltered as she spat at Draco's name. 'That boy is a disgrace to the Malfoy name. He gave up the Malfoy ring. And for what? To go about the world playing clever assassin, only to come crawling back to you and become a lowly security guard. He was weak. His grandfather would have been ashamed of him.'

'You don't know anything about Draco or the Malfoy family, if you think that Draco is weak. He was the only one strong enough to escape the insanity', Hermione hit back.

Gloria paced around the bed, twirling her wand in her fingers with surprising agility. 'I understand your need to defend Draco. You're obviously in love with him. Why else would you keep his ring after he had abandoned you? You believe that I don't know what I'm doing here. I hope it doesn't come as too much of a surprise when I prove you wrong.'

Hermione bared her teeth at Gloria in a mixture of anger and frustration, but the older woman simply laughed it off and continued to pace around the bed.

'I know all there is to know about the Malfoy family', she continued, 'I should have been a part of the Malfoys.'

Hermione watched as the elderly grandmother's eyes glazed over with memories. As she began to tell the tale of her past, Hermione watched the carelessly twirling wand in Gloria's hand and waited for the opportune moment.

'I first saw the ring over fifty years ago and I knew that it was destined to be mine. Abraxas Malfoy was the most powerful wizard that I had ever known. He seduced me with his power and cunning but I fell in love with the man. I gave myself to him, body and soul.'

Hermione would have scoffed, but she had no wish to break Gloria out of her reverie. She just needed to get to that wand, somehow. Carefully, so as not to attract Gloria's attention, Hermione began to pull at her bonds. Gloria's distraction meant that her spell was weaker. Hermione stifled a scream of pain as her muscles protested at her insistent tugging. With a slightly sickening pop, she managed to get one hand out from beneath the spell-bind.

'Abraxas told me that only those worthy of the Malfoy name could see the family ring. And in that moment, I knew that he loved me too', Gloria paused and her facial features hardened, 'Then he drew out a knife and stabbed me six times in the chest. He walked away from me laughing. I remember that Abraxas always had the most beautiful laugh.'

Hermione froze mid-struggle, at the sickening imagery. Gloria had spoken of Abraxus's attempted murder with a purposeful strength, as if she understood his reasons for it and supported him.

'That's the reason you want this ring? You've spent the majority of your life pining for a man who stabbed and left you for dead?' Hermione's voice choked with the horror she felt at Gloria's words.

Gloria's eyes narrowed as she stalked towards Hermione. 'It was a test! Abraxas needed a woman of strength and power by his side. And I proved precisely how strong I could be…But I was too late. By the time I recovered, his family had forced him to marry that insipid fool of a witch, Evangeline.'

Hermione ignored the burning pain of her freed wrist. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

'You're a mudblood, aren't you?' Hermione said softly, realisation finally dawning.

'How dare you?' Gloria spat at her in anger, but Hermione but cut her off before she could continue. She felt a rage boiling inside her: for Gloria, for what Abraxas had done to this woman, and for what Gloria had done to herself. Hermione didn't understand how she could feel so strongly for this woman, but she directed her anger at the only target available.

'You are, aren't you? And I bet that Grandpa Malfoy never told you the other purpose for the Malfoy ring', Hermione continued recklessly, 'The ring acts as a beacon for their initiation into manhood. They believed that the cold-blooded murder of a female mudblood would make men out of them. The ring shows the Malfoy men their first victim.'

Gloria bared her teeth at Hermione and advanced at her with anger blazing in her eyes. Hermione watch her carefully. She needed Gloria to come close enough for her to steal the older woman's wand. Without remorse, Hermione continued to taunt her.

'You were nothing to him but a whore and some target practice. It didn't even matter that he hadn't even done a proper job of killing you. He would have gone on to kill hundreds of other mudbloods. You were that insignificant to him.'

Gloria let out a feral growl and clamped her hands around Hermione's neck. Hermione lunged forward to reach for the wand as it fell to the floor but Gloria forced her back against the bed. Hermione had not expected such strength. She had clearly underestimated the madness that drove Gloria. As the insanity overtook Greg's grandmother, Hermione felt the lingering bonds at her wrist loosen, then snap. Hermione's legs kicked wildly in the air, as she clawed at the hand gripping at her throat with her free hand. Gloria stared down at her without blinking, a smile growing on her lips. Every part of Hermione's body was now shrieking for air and she tried pushing Gloria away. But the older woman's grip was too strong and Hermione's strength was rapidly waning. Locked in their furious struggle, neither of the women noticed the gentle knock at the door, before it creaked open quietly.

'Are you alright, Herm— What the hell? Nan, what are you doing?' Greg rushed towards his grandmother. Wrapping his arms around her waist, Greg wrenched Gloria away from Hermione. Hermione collapsed off the bed and onto her knees as Greg held his grandmother back. Air burned a path down her throat and into her lungs, but Hermione gulped it in welcomingly. She could hear Greg trying desperately to soothe Gloria's manic shrieking. Even with her oxygen-starved mind, Hermione knew she had to get to Gloria's wand. She didn't want to give the older woman a single chance to bind her up again. Hermione's fingers fumbled around the floor before curling around the thin, warm wand. Although, her entire body protested at the move, Hermione forced herself to stand up. She held up the wand in front of her defensively as she faced Gloria.

Gloria was no longer shrieking. Greg now rocked his grandmother gently, holding her in a loose grip and whispering softly in her ear. The wild look in her eyes had been replaced by the smiling calm, once more. But Hermione knew that she had to be wary around both facades. She opened her mouth to speak, but all that issued forth was a harsh croak. Greg's head shot up. Too late did Hermione realise that she had distracted Greg sufficiently for Gloria to pull out of Greg's arms and push her grandson towards Hermione. Greg collapsed into Hermione roughly. As she caught an elbow in the side, Hermione felt the wand slip out of her hand. They both fell to the floor with a painful thud. Hermione tried to get up as quickly as possible but her legs tangled with Greg's making it impossible to move. She decided to roll over in an attempt to protect Greg from his grandmother's madness, but it was too late. Greg looked down at Hermione in surprise as he was lifted up into the air, then thrown against the old wardrobe. He hit it with a sickening crunch, before slumping down to the floor.

Hermione quickly jumped up onto her feet, once again. Gloria spun around to face Hermione with her wand gripped tightly in her hand.

'Greg's a good boy, but he just doesn't understand how much this means to me. Oh, he was certainly willing enough to get the ring from you. "But I won't hurt her, Nan, Hermione doesn't deserve that", he would say. Well, he just didn't understand that sometimes you have to go that one step further to get what you want.'

'Greg played a part in your effort to get the ring?'

'Of course, he did. When I finally discovered that you held the Malfoy ring, I pointed you out to Greg. Oh, he didn't realise what I wanted from you, at first. He just thought I was a fan of yours. Greg would go out on his dates with you and come back talking about how wonderful you were. I had to remind him several times that you had my ring and I wanted it back. Greg's usually been so good at making sure I got what I wanted.'

'He was the one who trashed my house and attacked Draco and me at the park.'

'You really are intelligent, Hermione. Little wonder that you were Minister of Magic at such a young age.'

'I still am the Minister of Magic', Hermione growled.

'Yes, but not for long', Gloria's manic smile lit up as she raised her wand at Hermione, 'Now give me the ring.'

'You would go to all this trouble: Injuring your precious grandson, and killing me, just to get your hands on this ring. Despite the fact that it has brought you nothing but pain.'

'You should know, Hermione. I'm sure you would do exactly the same thing.'

Hermione gaped at her in bewilderment, but she had no idea what to say in response to Gloria's ludicrous comment.

'Oh, you stand there, shaking with dignified anger but you're just like me, Hermione. You too have felt the power of the Malfoy men and seen the glory of the Malfoy ring. Draco left his ring for you, and you kept it: pining, as you say, for over ten years for a man who abandoned you.'

Hermione shook her head. She refused to acknowledge even the smallest inkling of truth in Gloria's words.

'You don't know anything about me, Gloria', Hermione managed calmly, 'If you want this ring so badly, then you can have it.' She pulled at her ring finger and pitched across the room. Gloria's head turned at the feint and Hermione took the opportunity to lunge at the other woman. They both fell to the floor in a scramble of limbs. Gloria's wand flew out of her grasp, but Hermione didn't bother to reach for it. She didn't need it quite, yet. Hermione was so pissed off right now that if she held a wand in her hand, everything in her sight might just explode. Gloria bit at Hermione's shoulder, but she barely felt it. Hermione forced the older woman against the floor with a very firm arm against Gloria's collarbone. She used her own body weight to subdue Gloria's legs and she made sure that she had the grandmother's full attention.

'I am nothing like you. For one thing, I have enough self respect for myself to know when I'm not loved. I also know how to appreciate the people who do love me. Now, clearly your grandson loves you very much, or he wouldn't have catered to your every whim and fancy. But if you continue to treat him like a simple pawn in your battle to make up for an affair gone wrong, then you're going to lose him and you'll be nothing but a twisted old lady who was too afraid to experience real love.'

Gloria glowered at Hermione ferociously. It was clear that none of Hermione's words had changed anything for her. Hermione gave a shrug and carefully reached out for the wand. She raised it and began reciting the binding spell that Gloria had used on her, but stopped mid-way as a groan sounded behind her.

'Don't, Hermione', Greg pleaded, 'I'm sorry for what she's done to you, but you have to understand: she's sick. Don't do anything to hurt her. She's all I have left' Hermione finished the spell off quickly, making sure she bound Gloria's mouth and feet as well, before turning to glare at him coldly. 'I'm not a murderer, Greg', she said angrily.

Greg sighed. 'I wouldn't blame you', he said as he touched his fingers gingerly to his blood matted hair.

'I don't like you very much at the moment, Greg. So if you could just give me the explanation you know I deserve about your part in all of this, then I will be free to waltz out of here without another thought for you or your grandmother again.'

He grimaced but began quickly, 'She probably told you that she set us up, Hermione. And she did, but I fell in love with you. No, don't shake your head. It's true. Nan just kept at me, saying you had her ring and she had to have it back. After I failed to get it from you, she went absolutely crazy. I thought it would be wise if we just took a break for a while to give her time to calm down. That's why I reacted the way I did when you told me about your being a witch. I'm sorry, Hermione. I never dreamed that she would hurt anyone. I certainly never realised her obsession would go this far.'

'You let it get this far, Greg. You thought you were humouring her when you started seeing me to get to the ring, but you were playing right into her plans.'

Greg looked at the floor, refusing to meet her eyes.

'She even convinced you to break into my house and attack Draco.'

'I'm sorry, Hermione, but what can I say? I lost my parents when I was five years old. My grandmother is the only person I have left in this world. I would do anything for her. Is that so wrong?'

'It is when you're hurting people.'

'I never meant for anyone to get hurt.'

'Well, your grandmother certainly had no qualms about it. Besides the fact that she was intent on killing me, she could have killed you when she carelessly swept you aside', Hermione retorted, 'If you truly want to do what's best for your grandmother then you will make sure that she gets help. If you let her continue on her obsessive path, she's not only going to get herself killed but she's going to drag you down with her.'

'But how do I find help for her, if she doesn't want it?'

The idea flashed into Hermione's mind so suddenly that she didn't want to give herself too much time to think about it. Without responding, Hermione turned away from Greg, gripping Gloria's wand tightly in her hand. Hermione moved so quickly that Greg had no time to protest. She whispered the severing charm and cut off her left wedding finger with a scream.

The door burst open with a yell, and Hermione was vaguely aware of Draco entering the room. Through her haze of pain, she ignored his sudden appearance and reached down for her severed finger. With a trembling hand, she pulled the curiously cold ring from her dismembered digit and held it in her right palm. Draco was at her side now. With cold precision, he reached for her loose finger and clasped it tightly to its original position. He began to whisper, and Hermione shook as she felt the tendons, bones and ligaments of her finger begin to re-attach. When it was done, Draco released her hand. Without saying a word to him, Hermione strode towards Gloria. The older woman was staring to kill, but Hermione took no notice of it. She took hold of Gloria's hands, which were bound on her lap, and forced them open.

'You and I are very different people, Gloria. I don't need to love Draco. I just do. And if there comes a time when he doesn't love me anymore, well, I won't let that ruin the rest of my life. Stop letting this obsession for a completely unworthy man rule your life, and find another driving force. I hope this helps you find some semblance of happiness.'

Hermione dropped the bloody ring into Gloria's open palms. With a flick of the wand, Gloria came unbound. She curled over the ring with tears running down her face.

'Finally…I've finally gotten it. It's mine', she cried as she rocked back and forth.

Hermione made her way towards Draco and Greg. Her head was spinning and her legs threatened to buckle under her. Beyond the pain and weariness she felt, Hermione felt a flicker of fear at the thought becoming just like Gloria. She looked up and Draco's worried gaze effectively extinguished her fear. They were definitely different, Gloria and her. When she reached Draco's side, she grabbed onto his arm and hung on like a limpet.

'How long have you been here, Draco?' Hermione mumbled drowsily.

'I got here just in time to see Greggy boy, here, get thrown around', Draco drawled as only he could, throwing a piercing glare in Greg's direction. Greg tried to match Draco's stare but it wasn't quite the same when accompanied by a creeping blush.

'And you didn't come rushing in here to play hero? I must say I'm impressed.' Hermione could hear that her voice was weakening and her strength was draining. Draco turned to look at her. Very gently, he swung her into his arms, never breaking eye contact.

'I didn't want to steal your thunder.'

'You came all the way to Greg's place because you thought I was in trouble, then decided to play spectator?'

'My instincts were telling me that you were in trouble. Then, they told me that you could handle it. And I always listen to my instincts.'

Hermione smiled weakly and let her head drop to his shoulder. Draco turned to leave the room when Greg decided to speak up.

'Hermione, maybe I should call an ambulance or something', he muttered helplessly.

'Leave it, Johnson. Hermione and I are going home. We don't need your ambulance. But I do have one last warning for you', Draco gently placed Hermione back on her feet. He swung his fist at Greg with such speed, that the other man barely had time to react. Greg flinched as he waited for the painful contact…but it never happened. He opened his eyes to see Draco's fist hovering barely a breath from his nose.

'If you or your grandmother come near Hermione again, I will personally tear you apart without even touching you', Draco whispered with an evil smile.

Greg looked to Hermione frantically, but she had her eyes closed as she clung onto Draco's arm. In another swift movement, Draco swept Hermione back into his arms.

'You're not seriously throwing away our relationship for him, are you? I love you, Hermione', Greg pleaded.

Hermione simply shook her head and sighed. 'Don't, Greg. I trust Draco. And he obviously trusts me. For me, trust is a lot harder to achieve than love. Maybe in a year or two I'll have forgotten about your lies and you grandmother enough for me to talk to you again, but until then, this is goodbye.'

Draco strode out of the house without waiting for Greg's reply. As he stepped out into the chilly evening air, Hermione closed her eyes again and let the warm darkness envelope her.

* * *

**A/N:** I'd just like to dedicate this chapter to Computer boy who wrote me the funniest review for my last chapter: 'for some odd reason, Gloria reminds me of Satan. is that normal?' I nearly fell off my swiss ball when I read that… Also like to thank all my other reviewers and readers too, hope you're still enjoying my work. And in case any of you are wondering, it's not quite over yet…luv HObYtLaH ;0) 


	15. Beginnings and Ends

**Beginnings and Ends**

Hermione's door flew open but before she even had time to react, Draco was in the room and gripped the intruder in a tight head lock. Her would-be assailant struggled valiantly under Draco's determined grip.

'Mhhhmmmffm', an angry, garbled voice yelled from the approximate region of Draco's armpit.

Hermione sighed and shook her head at the expression of glee that Draco was barely trying to conceal.

'Draco, let go of Harry's head. I'm sure he has a perfectly reasonable explanation for rushing in here like a loon.' Hermione intoned.

Draco obediently released Harry and came to stand by Hermione. She was quite surprised to see that Harry didn't even try to exact revenge on Draco for the headlock. The situation was clearly very serious.

When Harry finally found his voice again he began yelling at cosmic speed. He sounded as if he was still speaking through Draco's armpit. Hermione rushed towards Harry and placed what she hoped was a comforting hand on his frantic shoulders. An overwhelming sense of confusion and excitement radiated from Harry.

'What in the name of Merlin's socks has gotten you so fired up?' she asked her frantic friend. Harry visibly sagged under Hermione's gaze. 'That's it. Take nice, deep breaths and try to annunciate.'

After gulping down some large breaths he finally managed to get his message across, 'Ginny's having the baby!'

Hermione would have laughed if Harry wasn't looking so wretchedly worried. Instead, she draped her arm over Harry's twitching shoulders and spoke to him in a slow but precise voice. 'Harry, you need to clam down. Everything's going to be fine. I'm sure Mrs Weasley already has Ginny safely tucked up in a bed at St Mungo's. Babies take a while to come out, so Ginny's more than likely just waiting for you to appear by her side. She needs _you_ there, Harry. What she doesn't need is you in the middle of a conniption. So here's what we're going to do.'

Harry seemed to be holding his breath in anticipation as Hermione spoke, so she paused to remind him to breathe.

'You're going to go home and pack a bag of essentials for Ginny: pyjamas, toiletries etc, and then floo directly to St Mungo's okay. We'll meet you in the foyer in exactly twenty minutes.'

Harry was heading out the door before Hermione even finished her sentence. The wild and frantic look on his face had all but disappeared, replaced by one of blind determination. When a person hits the state of panic that currently assailed Harry it was generally easier to let the nearest commanding voice take control.

With a smile and a small sigh, Hermione walked behind her desk and opened the small cupboard that stood behind her chair. She pulled out a tightly packed duffel bag and rested it on her desk as she checked the contents. Checking it was rather superfluous since she already knew that everything was in there: pyjamas, dressing robe, cosmetics bag, toothbrush, hairbrush, magazines, and throat lozenges. She'd had it packed and ready to go for months now.

'You've already packed a bag for Ginny and yet you still sent Potter home scrambling for one?' Draco smiled.

'You saw the state he was in. He needed something to do or he was going to start cursing walls at random. And I wouldn't actually leave Ginny's overnight bag to Harry. Who can say what he'll pack in his current state of mind. Besides, I doubt mine will actually be necessary. Mrs Weasley probably had one packed from the day she found out Ginny was pregnant.'

Hermione looked up at Draco expecting another of his dry comment but nothing came forth. He just nodded and strode towards the fireplace. Hermione frowned slightly. Draco had been doing that a lot lately: not saying anything; just giving her a penetrating and assessing _look_. She was beginning to miss Draco's sardonic running commentary, but mostly the lack of dry, witty comments since the Greg and Gloria incident simply unnerved her. Hermione had a feeling that she and Draco would be having a TALK very soon.

'Are you coming?' Draco asked as he stood patiently by the now green flames flickering in her fireplace.

Hermione shook her thoughts away and tried to concentrate on Ginny.

'Of course. I'm not going to miss out on the birth of my god-child.'

* * *

Draco and Hermione were waiting as Harry stumbled out of the fireplace in St Mungo's foyer. He appeared to be dragging a half-opened chest behind him. The term 'overnight bag' had clearly been a bit too much for his addled brain to handle. Hermione caught a glimpse of a bedraggled soft toy and a blender among the hodge-podge contents of the chest but decided not to comment.

Without saying a word, Draco stepped up and pried the handle of the chest from Harry's fingers. He then gave Harry a gentle shove towards Hermione, who calmly led him to Ginny's room. They entered the room to see Ginny clutching at Mrs Weasley's hand. Ginny was breathing in short, sharp pants as she focused with immense concentration on her swollen abdomen. She didn't even look up at her newest visitors. No one spoke. Ginny seemed to have discovered the mental state that she needed to be in to see this through, and no one wanted to distract her.

Mrs Weasley beamed at Harry, Hermione and Draco with the golden smile of an imminent grandmother. Hermione gave Harry a prod forward and he stumbled towards Ginny's side. Ginny still didn't take her eyes away from her baby belly. She reached out blindly for Harry and released her mother's hand. Mrs Weasley was still grinning away madly as she came around to stand by Hermione and Draco.

'I think we should leave the lovebirds alone for now', Molly whispered gently.

Harry looked up, eyes wide with fear, silently pleading them not to leave him in this foreign and terrifying predicament. Harry faced death on a daily basis in his work as an Auror, but the mere thought of bringing a new life into this world petrified him beyond words. Hermione shook her head gently and mouthed the one word that she knew would calm Harry down: 'Daddy'.

The change in Harry was immediate. The grin on his face was spectacular. He leant down and kissed his wife on her temple, muttering at her as he went. Ginny finally looked up at Harry and smiled tremulously as the tears began to form in her eyes.

Molly turned around and Hermione noticed for the first time that Mr Weasley was seated in the corner sporting the same happy grin. After a small nod from Molly, Arthur stood up and joined them. All four of them quietly left the room, leaving Harry and Ginny to their own devices.

There was a row of seats lining the wall opposite Ginny's room and they all headed for the chairs. Mrs Weasley gave Hermione a fierce hug as a belated greeting, but it was clear that she was still distracted by Ginny.

'Ginny's just about ready to pop. The midwife will be along soon to help her with the birthing. I must say, you arrived with Harry just in time. Ginny was adamant about having Harry by her side during the birth', Molly said with a nervous giggle.

'Well, it's only right that he should be there through the _pain_ and the joy of having a baby', Hermione said. Both Arthur and Draco turned towards her and shot her somewhat nervous, guilty glances. Molly winked at Hermione and giggled again.

'Anyone want a cup of tea? Coffee? I'll just pop upstairs and make up a few cuppas.' Powered by nervous energy, Mrs Weasley was up and heading off before anyone could decline. Arthur stood up and decided to go after his wife and give her a hand. Hermione hardly noticed them leaving, however. She was too distracted by the murmur of voices in Ginny's room that was steadily becoming a rumble. Hermione couldn't contain her smile as she began her mental countdown: three, two, one…

The shouting that burst from Ginny's room caused more than a few heads to pop out into the corridor. For such a small being, Ginny certainly knew how to get the most out of her voice.

'Don't tell me to breathe! I know how to breathe! It's the getting the baby OUT that I'm having trouble with!'

'It's a good thing I packed those throat lozenges', Hermione thought as Ginny continued to harangue her husband about the trials of birth. Hermione turned to Draco feeling certain that this would elicit a comment from him. Instead, he was looking rather startled by Ginny's sudden outburst. When he realised that Hermione was watching him, he turned towards her. Draco opened his mouth as if to speak, but paused. Hermione felt a tingling sensation of dread race down her spine. It was clear that Draco wanted to talk. But Hermione didn't know if she was ready for it yet. She knew it was going to happen, probably sooner rather than later, but she wanted to be prepared for it. A few tense seconds passed before Draco closed his mouth again without saying a word and his strong bodyguard mask quickly made a return.

Hermione swallowed a mixed sigh of relief and frustration, then turned her attention back to the door of Ginny's room. The commotion inside seemed to quieten down as a short, freckled healer wearing the blue robes of a midwife walked in. This was it, then. Hermione stood up when the door opened once more and watched nervously as the healer wheeled Ginny's bed down the corridor.

'We'll be here waiting for you, Gin' Hermione promised before she took her seat again. A companionable silence enshrouded Draco and Hermione as they sat there waiting. Companionable silences were becoming a common occurrence between them now.

It had been a fortnight since the Greg and Gloria incident. Hermione didn't recall much of what had happened but she had woken up in her own bed with Draco nursing her. She had never known it was possible to feel as safe and loved as she had under his care. With Draco by her side she had felt as if nothing in the world could go wrong or come between them again.

When she had recovered to Draco's satisfaction, everything had returned to normal; or as normal as it could be between herself and Draco. They spent their days in the close confines of Hermione's office with Draco stoically guarding her while Hermione worked through all her ministerial duties. And at night they would return to Hermione's flat and spend the evening together there. But alas, with normalcy comes doubt.

No matter how much Hermione tried to fight it. The doubts of her past returned. She understood now that Draco had left her all those years ago to protect her. But those thoughts didn't help her in any way. If anything, Draco was even more protective of her than ever, even if he had learnt to trust her. Hermione feared that Draco was taking all the blame for her little rendezvous with Gloria. It seemed like only a matter of time before Draco decided that the only way he could truly protect her would be to leave again. And Hermione knew that once he had made up his mind to leave, nothing she said could possibly change his mind.

Hermione knew in her heart of hearts that she would rather have Draco by her side and fight any obstacles together, than face a future of certain safety alone. Convincing Draco of this was going to be the trick, though. That's why she was dreading the imminent talk with him. Certainly, she had a plan. But everyone knew that even the best laid plans often went to hell in a picnic basket.

Hermione shook her head. There was no point torturing herself with these thoughts. Right now, she needed to concentrate on Ginny, Harry and the baby. She was further jolted from her reverie when she felt Draco's elbow in her side. She looked up to see Mrs Weasley offering her a steaming mug of tea. She accepted it with a grateful smile.

Eight cups of tea and numerous toilet breaks later, the corridor was largely filled by the Weasley clan, who were buzzing away with excitement. Hermione was beginning to feel slightly agitated at the length of time Ginny had been in labour. Draco clearly felt her agitation and cast her a questioning glance which she carefully avoided.

'Nothing's going to go wrong', she assured herself, 'Ginny and the baby are going to be fine.'

The door at the end of the corridor opened and everyone looked towards it in anticipation. However, it was only Mrs Weasley with the ninth round of tea. She must have sensed the anxiety in Hermione because she quickly gave the tray of teas to Ron with a sharp order to hand them out. Molly then bustled over to Hermione and gave her a reassuring pat on the hand. Draco stood up to join the Weasley boys. He recognised the need for a private woman-to-woman chat.

'Don't stress yourself, dear. First time births usually take a while but Ginny's a strong girl. It'll only be a matter of time before my first grandson is here with us.'

'Grandson? I thought that Ginny and Harry didn't want to know the sex of their baby.'

'Oh no, they didn't. But girls aren't really a common feature of the Weasley clan', Molly said as she cast an awry eye at her rambunctious sons.

Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Ron and Draco were currently playing hacky-sacks with an empty paper cup. The cup seemed to be landing on Percy, who was seated in what he had thought was a quiet corner, a suspicious number of times. Ignoring Percy's death glares, the boys continued their game and were getting louder and wilder by the minute.

The game provided mindless distraction, so Hermione watched the boys' antics in an effort to distract herself. After a rather forceful kick from Ron, the cup went sailing over his head. The door at the end of the corridor opened again at precisely that moment and Harry stepped in. With the reflexes that had made him the best seeker in Hogwarts history, Harry caught the cup in mid-air and held it up like a trophy.

'We have babies!' he yelled triumphantly.

The reaction was instantaneous. Everyone (with the exception of Percy and Draco) ran forward and enfolded Harry in the largest group hug in record.

'Was that a plural I heard?' Mr Weasley asked Harry excitedly.

Harry's chest puffed up with pride as he nodded. 'Yep, twins.'

Fred and George shared a mischievous look and everybody laughed.

'Girls', Harry continued.

Everyone paused as Mrs Weasley burst out into noisy tears.

'Oh my, I can't believe it. Twin girls! Oh I'm so proud of my baby girl.'

Hermione grinned as she looked around her. Harry's girls were going to grow up completely surrounded by love. Not only did they have loving parents and doting grandparents, they also had a tribe of uncles who would cherish, tease and protect them, and a godmother who would always be there for them.

It took a while for Ginny to get settled back into her room but as soon as she was, they all piled into the room unheedful of the Head Healers protests. Ginny lay on the bed propped up by a mountain of pillows and looking resplendent. She was undoubtedly exhausted but the two tiny girls she cradled in her arms gave her a glow that could never be replicated by way of spell or cosmetics. Hermione and Draco hung back slightly as uncles and grandparents alike cooed over the new arrivals.

'Have you decided on names, yet?' Mrs Weasley demanded as she cradled one of the girls delicately.

Harry nodded and looked down at his wife with tears in his eyes. Ginny reached up and entwined her fingers with Harry's. He pulled her hand towards him and placed a kiss on the back of it before answering.

'We'd already decided that if it was a boy, we'd call him James. And if it was a girl, we'd call her Lily. So, we've decided to call the girls Lily and Jamie', Harry whispered somewhat reverently.

Hermione felt the tears well up in her eyes as she watched Harry looking down at Ginny and his daughters, practically bursting with love for his new family. She sensed Draco moving beside her before she felt his hand slip into hers. She turned and looked at him and they simply stared at one another for a moment.

'This is what I want', Hermione longed to tell Draco, 'Simply, for you to be here by my side, so we can face the world together. This is all I want from you.'

She remained silent. These were words she needed to say, but not here and not now. This was Harry and Ginny's time.

Instead, Hermione sidled towards Draco and repositioned herself so that she was leaning against him, the back of her head nestle in the crook of his neck. She sighed as he wrapped his arms around her. Together, they watched the miracle of newborn children, and the love and happiness of the moment kept their doubts at bay.

* * *

Both Hermione and Draco decided to walk home that night. It was quiet on the streets for a London night. It seemed to Hermione that the world at large recognised the beauty of what had taken place tonight and lay in a hushed peace in awe of it. Without a word, she slipped her hand into Draco's. They walked in silence, hand in hand through the calm of the night.

Hermione's mind was frantically trying to commit every detail of the walk to memory. The pearly radiance of the moon, the softest whisper of the wind, the warmth of their clasped hands, and the way their strides matched.

Hermione had to reign in her thoughts. Thinking about it in such a way made it seem far too final. 'It wasn't as if this was the last walk they would ever take together', she tried to convince herself. But in the dark crevices of her mind that insistent voice continued to whisper.

'How can you be so sure? How do you know that Draco won't just leave you again? How can you—'

A squeeze of her hand jolted Hermione from her thoughts. She looked up and towards Draco. As soon as their gazes locked, Hermione felt a flame of desire rush down her spine, leaving behind that tingling sensation that always appeared when she saw that urgent look in his eyes.

She was immensely grateful that they had reached her flat, and retrieved the key from her bag as quickly as possible. She pulled the door open and dragged Draco in behind her. She sighed as their lips met. Draco raked both his hands through Hermione's hair until her was cradling the back of her head. He pulled her closer to him with a hungry urgency. Hermione reached her arms up and wrapped them around his neck. She heard the door click shut as Draco pushed her against it. Leaning against him for balance, Hermione managed to wrap both of her legs around Draco's waist without breaking their kiss. One of Draco's hands dropped from her hair to her waist and held her tightly against him as he began to move towards the bedroom. Neither of them stopped to light their way. Neither of them wanted to stop.

Draco managed to make his way to the bedroom without crashing into anything. He thrust open the door. With a low growl, he dropped Hermione onto the bed and started to undo his pants. Hermione's lips were tingling from the sudden loss of contact, but she paid them no heed as she hurriedly did away with her own clothes. As she watched him struggling with his clothes in the dark, Hermione willed her doubts away. She reached out and rubbed the back of her hand against Draco's cheek until she had his attention. She stared straight into his eyes and whispered, 'I need you, Draco.'

Even in the dark, Hermione saw the flicker of doubt and pain that passed over his features. But it disappeared in an instant. Draco lunged at her with another faint growl and Hermione laid back and made love to the only man she could ever truly love. There was an intensity in Draco's touch that had never been there before. Hermione understood his burning need and met him thrust for thrust.

When they were both sated, a sense of calm seemed to cocoon them. As she lay enveloped in Draco's embrace, Hermione knew that the time had come. She could no longer hide from her doubts. It was time for her to find out if her love was enough to make Draco stay. She knew he doubted his own love and his right to be with her. His silent and watchful behaviour over the past fortnight had highlighted his worries. Tonight they were both going to face their fears and doubts, so they could both move on…either way.

Hermione held her breath as she felt Draco stir behind her. With her back towards him, she couldn't see what he was thinking or how he was feeling but she could feel his every movement. Tension radiated from Draco, as he held Hermione closer to his chest. She lay still as he brushed his lips on her shoulder, then slowly up the side of her neck. She bit back a moan as the caress stopped at her ear. Draco's lips rested ever so slightly on her as he whispered, 'I love you, Hermione.'

Hermione shivered in spite of herself. Still she didn't speak; she needed to hear what Draco had to say.

'I love you, Hermione, but I know I don't deserve you. I knew it ten years ago when I first fell in love with you. And seeing the woman you've become only makes it a more patent fact. You are a beautifully intelligent woman with a strength that I will forever be in awe of. You have faced hardship and pain that would have caused most people to crumple in defeat. You deserve to be cherished, protected and loved. What you don't deserve is a love that is riddled with fear and doubt. And that is all I have to offer you. I have been wracked with the same fear and guilt that drove me away from you ten years ago. Whenever I'm near you, all I bring you is pain and horror. My love for you has only ever brought you sorrow and grief.'

Hermione opened her mouth to disagree but, feeling her tense, Draco hushed her. Now that he had begun he didn't want to stop in case he faltered and the words he so needed to say to Hermione dried up. Tears filled Hermione's eyes. Draco's words were confirming the worst of her fears. He was going to leave her again, and there was nothing she could do to stop him.

With a shaky breath Draco continues, 'I _know_ that you deserve so much more than I can give you. But I simply can't bring myself to leave you again.'

Hermione sobbed as a burst of happiness shot through her system. She spun around to face him and Draco cradled her face with both his hands as he went on.

'I thought I was strong enough to leave you ten years ago. Better to have loved you and left you safe and alive than risk the dangers my love for you would bring. But no matter how much I resisted, you drew me back. Once I saw you again, I knew that I would selfishly do all it would take to make you mine again. I love you.'

Unable to stand it any longer, Hermione reached up and pulled Draco down into a long and passionate kiss.

'I hate you, Draco', Hermione cried as they finally came up for air. Draco grinned and wiped away her tears. It was definitely Hermione's turn to get a few things off her chest. 'I hate you for making me live in fear for this past fortnight that at any moment you would leave me. I hate you for making me love you so much. I have never stopped loving you. Even when I believed you were dead. And the only thing that could make me hate you is the thought of you leaving me for stupid, noble reasons.'

Hermione pushed against Draco's chest until she was in a seated position, then leaned over him towards her bedside table. She scrambled around the drawer momentarily before righting herself once more.

Draco's heart began to pound when he saw the small velvet drawstring bag in her hands. With nimble fingers, Hermione undid the knot and shook the contents of the bag onto her palm.

'I bought this nearly a week and a half ago, but I've been too terrified to give it to you', Hermione said, her voice still choked from tears. Her fingers danced nervously over the band of silver in her hand.

'Now I want you to understand. This ring is not a replacement for the Malfoy ring. And I certainly don't intend to establish a new tradition of rings. It is not to be handed down to any children we may or may not have. It is for you exclusively, Draco.'

Draco's laugh seemed to fill the room. It certainly filled Hermione's heart. He tried to snatch it from her hand but Hermione had been watching him carefully and was determined to do things her way. Hermione held the ring closer to Draco and he saw that it was made up of two bands that entwined in an intricately designed knot.

'It's a lover's knot', Hermione whispered, 'Never ending.'

Draco held her gaze. 'Thank you, Hermione.'

Drawing a shaky breath, she lifted Draco's left hand towards her. She dropped a kiss on his knuckles, then met his gaze once more.

'With this ring, I bind you to me with hope and love', Hermione's lips barely moved as she spoke.

Draco grinned and Hermione slipped the ring into her finger with a shaky hand. When it was on, Draco gripped Hermione's hand and kissed her wrist and palm.

'Then I accept this ring with hope and love to be bound to you forever…'

THE END

**A/N:** And so to my faithful and (extremely) patient readers I would like to say fare thee well. I truly hope you enjoyed this tale. Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed my story: without an audience, stories are nothing. Luv HoByTlAh ;0)


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